ANBULLA KAADHALUKKU
A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam
| Cast: | Mohan, Mega, Rasika, Bhavana, Jaiganesh, "Delhi' Ganesh, Visu, Anumohan, Anandbabu, Latha, Sowcar Janaki |
| Music: | Deva |
| Direction: | Mohan |
80s "singing star" Mohan makes a comeback after 6 long years with a movie that preaches against astrology (or was it astrologers
who practise it wrongly? I never was sure). He has taken on the directing assignment too but I wish he had stuck to
acting. While I have sat through my share of bad movies, rarely have I been confused about what exactly was going on in front
of me. That happened atleast a couple of times during this movie.
Never really known for his histrionic abilities, Mohan nevertheless earned a reputation as a competent performer and a bankable star with a string of movies that made money at the box-office. Starting with Payanangal Mudivadhillai, most of these movies also cast him as a singer and were accompanied by blockbuster soundtracks. After he faded out of the film industry, vicious rumours surfaced about him being afflicted with AIDS and at one point, that he was even dead. This actually forced him to come out with an announcement that he was alive and well. Started after all this, Anbulla Kaadhalukku was in the making for a while and then lay in the cans for more time for want of distributors.
Prem(Mohan) joins as a driver in the Sundaramoorty(Jaiganesh) household. Shanti(Bhavana) is Sundaramoorty's daughter and she has her own sad secret. When she tries to end her life, Prem rescues her and reveals his reason for joining as the driver in her house (shades of Poovellaam Kaettuppaar again?). He had met Geetha(Mega) in Australia and fallen in love. Learning that Shanti has to get married if he is to wed Geetha, he has entered their house. After actually marrying Geetha but then getting separated, he tries to fix up Shanti's wedding. He manages to get her married off but Priya(Rasika), who has eyes on him, tries to wreck his union with Geetha.
While the initial portions are fine with some secrets being revealed, the flashback to Australia for the love affair between Mohan and Mega completely exposes Mohan's inexperience behind the camera. In one of the most inane romances this side of Monisha En Monalisa, Mohan and Mega fall in love when they are hostages. The lighting and camera angles during this whole sequence had the effect of making me trying to decipher what was going on. The presence of three new heroines only compounded my confusion during the later parts of the movie. With Mega and Rasika looking somewhat similar from afar, it reached a stage where I was not sure who Mohan was with and why! The common shock-tactic of showing something happening and then revealing that it was a dream continues here too but the outrageousness of the scene makes it obvious right from the beginning that it could not happen in reality.
There are several twists throughout the movie and some of these do turn out to be surprising. But the regularity with which they occur soon makes it exhausting. The event that sets up the climax, Rasika's phone call, is rather silly and I doubt if anybody would go to such lengths to get her man when a little verification would reveal the truth. The climax, which probably fits in more with one of those mythological movies, is one big joke and actually goes against the tone of the rest of the movie.
Mohan doesn't look too aged but looks ridiculous in his wig. Does he have the same wig-maker as Karthik? Among the three heroines, Rasika gets the top slot for both looks and acting. Visu appears almost throughout inspite of a "guest appearance" credit but is restrained. Vaiyapuri has one of the most irritating comedy tracks in recent movies. Deva comes up with 1 melodious song Ey Ilaya Nilave.... The picturisation for this song is neat too. The Kalyanam song too sounds catchy and is picturised well bringing out the joyous atmosphere at a wedding.