Kandaen - Stinks a bit!

The story is pretty old for Tamil Cinema. To summarize the plot, Vasanth (Shanthanu) wants to escape from his grandfather (Vijaykumar) who has arranged a marriage and hence convinces Vijaykumar that he is already in love and comes to Chennai promising that he will bring his beloved within a month’s time. But the real factor is that he needs a hunt for his girl. How he hunts what happens next is the simple plot spoiler of the movie.

It's been long time since I have seen such classic pile of shit! Every time, I see Shanthanu, his magnum opus Sakkarakatti strikes my mind hard and believe me, I am still struggling to come out from the Hangover! But I must say Kandaen is not in the same league of Sugar cube. As a matter of fact, no other movie can ever come close to Sugar cube. Alright, back to business on Kandaen.

It has become a trend these days to pull Santhanam to boost the show. It’s at least good for the audience when the screenplay is dull. But, to make the optimum use of the comedian is another let down. He evoked laughter then and there with his share of space that was given to him and did a good part. Overall, when you come out of the theatre, you will certainly tend to feel that more space should have been given to the comedian.

I was thinking if I can think of any other positives for the movie, believe me, I cannot crush my mind anymore. But the negatives are available in bundles.

Screenplay

I accept that for the screenplay to be a kick ass it often needs twists and turn and more importantly the pace should never decrease to make the audience scratch their ass. The director has made a tug of war play. To validate this phrase, I have quoted the following lines from the movie.

அப்பா! நான் வசந்த்-அ ரொம்ப LOVE பண்றேன் பா! அவன தான் கல்யாணம் பண்ணிப்பேன்.
அப்பா! என்ன மன்னிச்சிடுங்க பா, நான் ஏமாந்து போய்ட்டேன். சத்தியமா நான் இனிமேல் அவன பாக்கமாட்டேன்.
அப்பா! சாரி பா, அவன் என்ன ஏமாத்தள, என்மேல இருக்கிற லவ் நால தான் அப்படி பண்ணான்.
அப்பா! அவன் ரொம்ப மோசம் பா!

And this doesn’t stop between the lead characters, but it continues to their parents as well. Till climax, we could see the battle between the two parties.

Now coming to what the characters have done, Shanthanu, forget him, if he is going to do such scripts, I could see a new Vijay and Ajith in the new future, clearly with respect to selection of scripts. The scope doesn’t demand acting caliber for Shanthanu, even otherwise I have confidence in him. Narmada, played by Reshmi is good except for the scenes where she comes in saree or half saree. She impresses with her beauty and definitely a worthy candidate for so-called Tamil cinema heroines. Santhanam has been discussed initially in the positives but again, he is not utilized to the fullest. Vijaykumar was desperately fit to the movie with an aim to bring the Nattamai fame. Some point in time, it becomes very boring and irritating. Aasish Vidyarthy is wasted abruptly for not using his villain skill in which he would have done a cake walk.

Music and camera needn’t to be discussed at all! But certainly these songs especially in this movie are a serious pain! I didn’t get a relief with the songs after a dull screenplay. Camera! Come on, stop being a technical critic. For a debutant director, he has to make more effort to capitalize the chance and he eventually failed here. Illogical scenes, unnecessary shots, boring screenplay make Kandaen a boring place to spend time.

Sakkarakatti - A Terrific Masterpiece

Please be patient enough to read the entire review.
From the makers of Kakka Kakka, Aalavandhan, Punnagai Poove. Here comes one of the greatest movie ever made in the history of Tamil Cinema, oops, in the history of World Cinema. For those who have seen this movie, ALL I ASK IS ONE QUESTION. WHAT THE HELL IS THE STORY? Or does something like that exist in this movie. I should refrain using the term movie to address Sakkarakatti, but alas! I have left with no other synonym.
Alright, on a serious note. Let me begin my review with serious apology whose critics were bad namely, Ajith's Aalwar, Vijay's Udhaya, Rajini's Baba, Kamal's Mumbai Express, Vikram's Vinnukum Mannukum, Surya's Sri, Madhavan's Ennavale, Jayam Ravi's Idhaya Thirudan, Vishal's Sathyam, Dhanush's Dreams, Simbhu's Alai and last but not the least JKR's Kaanal Neer. These above mentioned movies are rocker and stunner.
I seriously had a nice intention that the movie will be good after watching the credits and initial sequences. But as soon as the initial childhood scenes started to stretch, started an itching sensation. Apparantly I noticed the credits stating Graphics Producer as Soundarya Rajnikanth. She has almost lived as an additional character in the movie. She is certainly THE woman who can make Hollywood to peep into our movies. The initial song, was good to listen and was comical throughout with comical scenes. Agreed, may be because of children song, it's ok with the graphics part bringing Alauddin. Then the story, oops, then it moves to the younger current generation.
Hero - Love at first sight
Heroine - Love at 18th sight
As usual some remarkable coincidence ignites love between the couple. At this juncture, if we dont have a duet, arent we committing a crime? [:O] Chinnama Chillakkama sollu sollu sollu comes on the way [:d]. Ocher Studios has tried to prove that Indian cinema, especially Tamil Cinema can compete to any Special effects movie in the world. In order to prove that, Ocher studios has taken a tour and demonstrated us the art of CG. In just one song, we have overcome, Mummy, Vanheilsing, Matrix CGs. Believe me, she received a standing ovation for her CG. Then comes the twist in the tale. Another heroine is being introduces as the hero relative.
Director has left the audience no clue to judge or predict what could be the next move. No one can predict that the second heroine Vedhika will fall in love with the hero. Great great direction and ultra unpredictable screenplay. One should also note that in between these romantic sequences, there is a parallel comedy track running beside which has turned out to be year's best comedy liner.
NOW, this is the place where the director excels or differentiate from the other great directors. INTERMISSION. I guess this is first time in Indian Cinema. It shows the director is trying to connect Tamil Cinema with Hollywood Cinema. And any guess for the director's education. He did his course in Film Direction in the USA. Do you guys remember the famous one liner [b]"MA MA Philosophy Philosophy"[/b]. This one liner will be apt for the movie. And you need to note that the audience has witnessed just two songs in the first half. Still 4 rocking visuals are pending. As soon as the play starts, Marudhaani...Marudhaani...again Soundarya rajnikanth scores here too. She wanted everyone in the world to show what a CG should actually look like and how important it is to have CG which is very much coincide and correlate to the movie. Man! TC is gifted to have such a tremendous technician.
Now what? Hero and the heroine get united after a small misunderstanding because of the second heroine. Now again they will split. We were literally expecting another interval. But again the director failed that audience cannot predict his movie. MA Philosophy. Now another twist is that, they again unite, but with the second heroine, Vedhika. WOW, shouldnt we expect another CG. This is the only time where the audience were able to predict the movie. And likewise, Soundarya is proving that we are the best in CG with each and every song given to her. In this song, Miss You da, she has taken everyone to New York City Night Effects, with her splendid CG. I seriously has to watch Matrix again to check if that movie can be compared anywhere closer to Sakkarakatti CG. Quite a tough task indeed.
After this song, again they seperate because of another misunderstanding. How many interval expectation? [:o]. This time the hero plans to let Vedhika to go and speak his lover. Hence he plans to goto Vedhika's house. Just look at the scene carefully, it's night, dark, he silently jumps the wall and enters her garden, hurdle over a few obstacle in a more cunning way and FINALLY PRESSES THE CALLING BELL. Another standing ovation. When Vedhika opens the door, she expresses her love in her eyes and falls over him. Suddenly Helicopters flying high, reporters swarming her house. Everyone in the theatre in a moment thought if someother movie is being played. There stands our director, who made the scene as the hero's Dream. MA Philosophy. A few people literally fell down. Do we call this as ROTFL [:o]?
And the much awaited song of the century, Taxi Taxi...taxi taxi arrives with a heated meter. The only song where Ocher has less work to spoil this as well. But good (only good thing) that this song has shaped visually well. But we did not get a once more for this song[:(]. After which I couldnt watch the movie till the climax as audience started to scream as they were disappointed because they did not play once more for the Taxi song. Hence, in the violent atmosphere, we hardly hear anything, and decided to walk out of the theatre. I am still in deep sorrow as I was unable to watch the climax where there could have been another twist. [:(][:(][:(]
Verdict : Kalaa Prabhu (Director) has proved he is apt for the one liner, M.A Philosophy
Evaanuchum indha padatha paartheenga na, avangalukku sila vachitaarean.