Bhama Devi Ravi, TNN, Aug 22, 2009, 06.40 PM ISTCritic's Rating: 2.5Idealism is the inspirational thread
of cinema, literature and even art. Why else would Robin Hood and Batman exist,
and more importantly, appeal to us so much?
Film:
Kanthaswamy
Cast: Vikram,
Shriya, Prabhu, Ashish
Vidyarthi,Vadivelu
Critic rating :
*
And since society
was, and continues to be, polarised between the rich and the poor, crusaders,
caped or otherwise, have, over the years, entertained and even enthralled us. Of
course, the idealism needs to be well fleshed out and the story narrated with
loads of drama. And yes, there needs to be a compelling reason for a mission to
save the world or protect the poor.
Kanthaswamy is literally the
answer to the prayers of the poor, the downtrodden and yeah, even the youth who
want Aishwarya Rai on their terrace for a live performance of ���Taal se
taal mila��� and ���Dola re���. People leave their wish lists to god
Kandhaswamy, the deity at Thirupporur temple, but it is superhero Kanthaswamy
(Vikram) in the garb of a rooster who delivers. When crowds swell, DIG
Parandaman (Prabhu) decides to investigate, convinced it is an
���asami��� and not ���sami��� who is behind it all. We are not
kept in suspense for long and are soon shown how the superhero
works.
Raiding the rich and feeding the poor is easy, when you have
the right job, and a bunch of friends (they are a gang of 12) who are experts in
every field from technology to finance do this. When CBI sleuths raid the house
of Pazhuvur Paranjothi Ponnuswamy or PPP (Ashish Vidyarthi), he meets his match.
PPP fakes a paralytic attack during the raid which nets Rs 1,000 crore, a nice
nest egg for the rooster to help the poor. And then, PPP���s daughter
Subbulakshmi (Shriya) says, "Leave him to me." She pretends to love, he pretends
not to know she is trying to trap him.
Even as Parandaman gets on to
the trail of the CBI cop, Kanthaswamy is off to Mexico, steals PPP���s stash
funds, and is back. By then he is unmasked, but along comes a twist in the tale.
But the motive is hardly convincing. Should have been a riveting film. Running
for 3 hours and 20 minutes, it is clear the director is labouring, specially
with all those lectures Vikram is made to spout. You do not look for logic in a
commercial film, only a gripping script. And with a star like Vikram, who is
stylish and charming, never overplaying his role for even a fraction of a
second, the film should have been racier and edgier.
Shriya seems to
have taken lessons from a belly dancer, as well., and the two numbers,
���Excuse me��� and ���En peru Meena Kumari��� are good. N K
Ekambaram���s camera is a treat and stands out amid all the gloss. Check it
out for the Vikram factor.