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Vijay in 'Kaththi'.Timed perfectly to lead the season’s box office firecrackers from the front, 'Kaththi' slashes its way through, and if it didn’t look as sharp in the first half, the second half makes up for it, well sort of.
'Kaththi' is paced rather fast, especially in the beginning; within an hour, the preliminaries, i.e, boy meeting the girl, a couple of perfunctory dances, and even the first chance doppelganger encounter is done with! It’s almost as if director A.R. Murugadoss wanted to quickly do away with the routine, as something bigger was awaited.
So it was. Kathiresan (Vijay) is a thug who flees the prison and runs straight into his look-alike. That’s Jeevanandham, who was shot at by a few thugs. Kathiresan exchanges identities with the unconscious Jeevandham, and finds himself embroiled in a case that would determine the future of a village.
And while the plight of the farmers, underground water resources, and corporate colonialism are being looked at, Ankita (Samantha) would make a pass at Kathiresan, some thundering beats would follow, and they’d break into a dance! But of course, no one said this was a documentary; it had to be a mass entertainer as well. So after kicking some sand in the face in passing, the movie progresses.
Samantha can be spotted in the songs of 'Kaththi'.The movie has a context. It takes sharp digs at corporates today, and the money magnets within the social circumference. It mocks at the city dwellers, who, by default are insensitive, ignorant and indifferent to the farmers and the villages whose produce they consume.
The media is not spared either; they are the TRP monger-werewolves who are measuring up ‘news worthiness’ constantly.
The story picks up tangible and grave issues like the farmer suicides, land confiscation and the proliferation of factories and corporates, but then all of the action pivots to Vijay, who is playing a dual role—one for his masses and one for the story.
Vijay for the masses turns it all around in the second half (Recalling ‘Thuppakki’ with the ‘I’m waiting’ response to the villain). The ‘power switch’ fight sequence turned out to be a great idea and a treat to watch. This one’s for the fans!
The story picks up tangible and grave issues like the farmer suicides, land confiscation and the proliferation of factories and corporates.The dampener is the lopsided script. The turn of events isn't as exciting even though the plot offers quite a vast field to play in. Socially relevant issues strike a chord, even though the dramatization mellows the effect. However, it has to be said that at some level, the reality of the farmers seem too heavy to be accommodated into the masala genre, and by Vijay, who has to keep alternating between the cool guy and the focused, socially aware goodie.
Vijay does the parts well, but it’s just him; no one else was even given the keys for a test drive. Samantha can be spotted in songs, and Neil Nitin Mukesh (Cedric Peter Von apparently, not once was this mentioned audibly) can be seen wearing aviator goggles waiting on his constant set of frown lines.
Anirudh Ravichander’s BGM works great for the movie, although the same can’t be said about the music. The screenplay could have benefited with some good writing; to actually be narrating pertinent issues inside the fabric of an entertainer doesn’t quite justify it. In here, it’s as though directors Mani Ratnam and Shankar thrashed out the outline over a cup of tea, and left it behind for Murugadoss’ treatment. That wasn’t the best of ideas, but it just might work very well.
Wide eyed observation: The lady fighters being thrashed by Vijay evoked huge yelps of cheer from the audience, no, from the menfolk! Heart-warming.
Rating: 3.25/5
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