This is a standard formula used by 1000s of film makers before this and will be used by 1000s of film makers to come. Despite this clichéd plot, Naan Mahaah Alla stands out from the rest. Reason? Narration and details.
Firstly, the movie is entertaining throughout. There is not a moment where the pace of narration fails. From start to finish director Suseendran had ensured that you are tied to your seats. First half has all the fun parts and second becomes serious and racy. You need romance? humor? action? songs? - you name it, you got it.
Secondly the movie has immense details. Every shot has been planned very meticulously to bring out the original, natural feel. Just to give an example, there is a shot in the movie where the police inspector comes to the hero's place to enquire about his father's death. In this scene, the inspector asks Karthik to sit beside him, and when karthik does, he clears the shoves of news paper lying on the sofa to make space to sit. We do this in our homes every time. But to bring out such details to screen? This is exactly what the director has achieved. Small gestures, small actions - details in each and every shot which does not stand out as sore points but just gels into the movie that you would hardly notice, but very effective.
The director has also tried to understand general human behavior and tried to preserve it thought the film. To give you another example, there is a scene where Karthik chases one of the villain through the city streets. The reactions given by the by-passers and the kids playing in the streets are amazingly natural. It almost looks like a candid shot.
Thirdly, unlike 80% of Tamil cinemas, when you watch this movie, you would feel that the director has used his brains to create such a script. The director has tried his best to leave no "hole" in his logic. For example "How does the hero suddenly become a killing machine?" the director has tried to convey that our hero is a black belt in martial arts in one of his earlier scene. So is this coverup effective? Well maybe and maybe not. But the point is the director has tried. He has tried and succeeded in many places. Another appreciable aspect of his direction is that the director has not questioned the intelligence of the audience. He has not gone on a explanation spree for the audience. Some of the incidences and motives are left to audience to understand. This gives an elation while watching the movie - you feel that the director respects your intelligence.
Fourth, characterization. This movie has done amazingly well in this department. In many movies there is depth in hero/heroine's (well I can think of 100 movies that lacks even this). In Naan Mahaan Alla you get a plethora of characters with depth. Hero (not much different from many movies you might have seen), heroine (again not much different from many movies you might have seen), hero's dad, hero's mom, hero's friend, kasimedu dada, villain with curly hair, his maternal uncle, villain with the decent looks and so on. The casting for the movie is pitch perfect. Just their appearance explains their role and you immediately start relating to those characters. You feel that you have seen such a dad, sister, dada, rogues in some place somewhere.
Positives in the movie:
Music & BGM: The director has done well to restrict to just 3 songs. The best thing about the picturization of the song is that you are not left to see just the hero and heroine dancing in some foreign locale with some Caucasian dancers behind. The songs are narrative in style giving some sense for musical interruptions. Yuvan Shankar Raja has done an exceptional work for songs and BGM. "Iragai polae" stands out! Very refreshing song that you want want to repeatedly listen in your car while driving in the highway! The BGM when the 4 villains round up the hero in the climax is brilliant. To some extent the BGM glorifies the villains, portraying them as very cool. Well.....let it be! but brilliant. Overall this department has many ups and has no downs.
Humor: There is no scarcity for humor in the first half of the movie. Though these may not appear as a separate track as in Vivek-Vadivel style, the humor has been aptly embedded in the movie. Karthik going for collection, his phone conversation with Kajal in initial scenes, his visit to heroine's dad, his conversation with the kasimedu dada are one of the breeziest moments in the movie. There are many small instances such as when Karthik recites his star sign and also "I Love You" to Kajal over phone which she conveys to the temple priest. Such scenes invites peels of laughter from the audience.
Karthik: He has given an improved performance when compared to paiyya. He has fit to the role well and not tried to glorify himself. He has acted perfectly like the boy next door. Every one would easily relate to his character to someone they know from their living quarters. But his expressions seems to be repetitive from film to film. He should try to deliver something new in next film.
Kajal: She brings in a freshness with her looks and cute expressions. But acting? who cares? her role does not demand it and neither does she promise any such thing. She has been brave to appear without make up in many scenes (I guess on director's request), she was absolutely gorgeous in those scenes. She is never going to be a Nandita Das, but who is complaining? Let her serve Tamil cinema by just looking pretty!
Karthik's Dad: He is well remembered for his role in Pasanga. He does a neat job - perhaps more than Karthik. Good body language.
Kasimedu Kutty-something: Just his looks tells it all. Looks like Dada to the core. This is one character all the audience will love. Good body language.
Villains: A bunch of 4 kids. Cast perfectly in the movie. These are the kind of kids you would often see in PTC buses or tea shops corners near your home. They have done their part to perfection. Good body language. Their characterization has been so well etched and executed that you would wish them dead when the dada chases them with weapons.
Villain's maternal uncle: He gives a sense of dejavu. He looks familiar but don't know from where. His hoarse voice and his body language gives perfection to the role.
There are more characters like hero's friend, his friend's boss, sister, mom, Kasimedy dada's accomplices, heroine's dad who have done justice to their role.
Costume: Costumes should get special mention. Kartik, Kajal's dresses did not look out of the world or misfit. The details in all the co-actors and villains dresses were amazing!
Cinematography and Editing: Neat and Crisp
Movie's Flaws
Recovered head: The recovered head of the murdered girl is intact. It is so much intact that the hero's dad is able to identify it by seeing it in TV. This logic is a bit far fetched. The head could have rotten, the TV news channels (though unethical these days) may not telecast such castrated body parts in TV. Above The hero's dad able to figure out the person from such video footage is even more unbelievable.
Tracking the Girl's Connection: After the girl went missing or after her body parts have been found, the police could have tracked it to her lover and then to his friends. This angle is not covered convincingly.
4 kids killing dada and his henchmen: There is 1 angle that the 4 kids did not know the identity of the dada. Hence they were not afraid of him and were able to gain courage to kill the dada and his henchman. But still this angle does not support their whole action of successfully terminating 4 goons.
Favourite Scene
The scene where Kartik's dad is stabbed: The expressions by Kartik and his dad cannot be more natural. Kartik comes running and holds his dad and urges him to move quickly to avoid the stampede. But later sees the expression in his father's face and does not understand why? his dad looks down at his midriff region. Kartik's eyesight travels along with his dad. He looks at the blood oozing out of his dad's stomach. His expression changes and holds his father. All this conveyed in 20 seconds. Brilliant!
Verdict
This movie is not for people below 14 and people above 41. This movie is not the next Nayagan or Paruthiveeran. This movie is going to be forgotten in few months. But this movie is entertaining, intelligent, racy, a team's hard work.
A MUST SEE for all the people (refer to the age category above) who do not mind some blood shedding scenes.
