MUTHAM

A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam


Cast: Arunkumar, Nagendra Prasad, Satyan, Charulatha, Jennifer, Ajayan, Anjali, 'Thalaivasal' Vijay, Madan Bob
Music: Deva
Direction: S.A.Chandrasekhar

Looks like S.A.Chandrasekhar has flat run out of ideas. The director, known for some hardhitting movies dealing with the law, like Sattam Oru Iruttarai and Naan Sigappu Manidhan earlier in his career, seems to have resorted to copying Hollywood movies. While his last movie Dosth was a remake of Double Jeopardy, he has relied on Friday the 13th for his latest venture. But with an overload of glamour and vulgarity and not enough thrills and chills, the movie is a bland affair.

Bharath(Arunkumar) and his four friends(Nagendra Prasad, Satyan, Charulatha, Jennifer) help another couple Joe and Sudha elope, since Sudha's influential father is against her wedding. The group of 7 friends goes on the run and after a simple wedding, ends up spending the night at a resort. But there is a serial killer lurking around the place and the group starts shrinking as the friends are killed one by one.

The biggest problem with the movie is that it takes too long to become interesting. While the first scene clearly indicates that it is a horror movie, the movie shows no signs of moving in that direction for almost the entire first half. While a certain amount of setup is necessary to get the group of friends to the lonely resort, it is definitely too long here. We are subject to Arunkumar's romance with his girlfriend, Nagendra Prasad's attempts to win the heart of Aarti and Satyan's vulgar trysts with the maid. Sadly, none of these are interestingly handled. The tribal dance and Satyan's affair with other women are apparently added to throw in a few red herrings but are obvious as S.A.Chandrasekhar's attempts to pad the running time and introduce even more vulgarity.

The start of the murders simply proves that S.A.Chandrasekhar is ill-equipped to direct a horror movie. The usual suspense as we await the next murder and the shock associated with the actual murder are completely absent. Neither the picturisation nor the music elevate the tension needed for these scenes. And the little tension that is generated is not maintained either as the director makes frequent detours into lame romantic interludes or comedy sequences. The revelation of the killer is not a complete disappointment and holds a little surprise.

The movie advertises itself as the first completely digital movie in India but our only thought is "What a waste of technology!". The movie has no special effects or graphics consequently, the digital process ends up being used unnecessarily and in the wrong places. The only places that I could identify a digital imprint were the title sequences, the song sequences where the faces of the actors are disfigured and the colours of the background scenery are changed!

None of the cast really stands out. Arunkumar shows off his buffed up torso but has no oppurtunity to emote while Nagendra Prasad overacts most of the time. Satyan, who was the leading man in Ilayavan, has deservedly been demoted to comedian but is just as irritating. The crudeness and vulgarity in most of his jokes doesn't help. The actresses, as is the case of most debetante actresses these days, show off their wares in skimpy dresses. The title song sounds good but ends too quickly while the other songs are barely worth a listen.