Film Review: Viswanathan Ramamoorthy

JUST IN case you thought that the flick is even remotely connected with the yesteryear composer duo Viswanathan and Ramamoorthy, no... thankfully it is not. Unless you wish to bring in the S. A. Rajkumar factor. The composer whose tunes generally resemble one another, has this time blatantly lifted from one of M. S. Viswanathan's ever popular numbers, ``Aadaludan Padalai...'' from ``Kudiyirundha Koil''. (The song is ``Vairathil Mazhai Kaetaen...'')

The story (with a few obvious modifications), and even the scenes are straight from ``Veetukku Veedu'', an excellent entertainer of the 1970s. Only that Sri Thenandal Films's ``Viswanathan Ramamoorthy'', written and directed by Rama. Narayanan falls short from the original in ever so many ways.

Kovai Sarala's role to name one. In ``Veetukku Veedu'', it was a male character, so-wonderfully portrayed by Nagesh. Here Kovai Sarala as Andal is only too loud, and brash. And all this in the name of humour.

Viswanathan (Ramki) is hen-pecked. The wife Meena (Roja) is an aspiring actress, while he is jobless. His friend Ramamoorthy (Vivek) is a tenant in Viswanathan's house. In a moment of crisis Ramamoorthy is forced to make his wife Shenbagam (Vindhiya) pose as Viswanathan's wife Meena. Anadal (Kovai Sarala) who is slightly nutty is head over heels in love with Ramamoorthy. The scenes wherein Andal sees her lover as Lord Narayana and makes a mockery of things, lack refinement. Graphics in these sequences have no subtlety or finesse.

Ramki is seen on screen after a long time, but has very little to do. Vivek is ubiquitous in Tamil cinema these days. As the second hero, he shines in flashes - the dialogue helps him too.

Compare the casual yet hilarious way in which V. K. Ramasamy essayed the role of Nagesh's father in ``Veetukku Veedu'' and the caricature of the same by ``Vennira Adai'' Murthy in ``Viswanathan...'' - surely the latter is not a patch on the original.

It is not just ``Veetukku Veedu'' - the sequence in which three men walk into Viswanathan's household claiming to be Ramamoorthy's father, is like watching one of `Crazy ' Mohan's plays.

When the original itself is still alive and kicking do we need a remake at all and a crude one at that?

MALATHI RANGARAJAN

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Section  : Entertainment
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