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COHESION, A CASUALTY: Kannamoochi Yaenada

Comparisons are odious, but you can’t help being reminded of writer-director Priya’s clarity in narration and levity in treatment that came out beautifully in ‘Kanda Naal Mudhal.’ Certain scenes make an impact, and the veteran actors shine in many sequences. Yet cohesion is a casualty in ‘Kannamoochi Yaenada’ (U). The accent on light-heartedness is fine, but when the characters often appear light in the head, things fall flat.

Police Commissioner Arumugam’s (Satyaraj) daughter Devasena (Sandhya) falls in love with Harish (Prithviraj) and brings him home. But dad doesn’t approve and the house is soon a bedlam. Of course, eventually, all ends well.

Prithviraj scores in histrionics but the character stumbles at places. (The young hero has to work on his Tamil — the Malayalam touch is too prominent.) He appears totally ungrateful when he walks out on his uncle (Radha Ravi) who had nurtured him from childhood, for the sake of love. For all that, it’s not as though you see him driven by intense passion for his sweetheart. They’d just met a month ago. The uncle’s petty retaliation is worse.

Incidentally, even in the name of comedy, how far can jibes at a particular lingo take the film?

Satyaraj’s blatant rudeness and unwarranted loudness negate the liking you would have otherwise developed for the character. He often goes overboard in his reactions that they aren’t funny after a point.

Neither his ego nor his wife Damayanti’s (Radhika) docility is established very strongly. Hence the latter half impresses little.

Graceful in song sequences and impressive in expressions, Radhika is in her element. Sandhya looks radiant and performance wise, though overshadowed by experienced actors, she’s cute.

Pritha’s cinematography lures you even in fight sequences, where the sepia tones enhance the effect. Art work (Remiyan) in general and for the ‘Sanjaram’ song sequence in particular stands out. The re-mix, ‘Andru Vandadhum,’ makes you realise yet again the genius of MSV, the composer. And appreciably, a couple of dance steps of the original MGR-Saroja Devi sequence have been included here. The percussion and the whistle of the re-recording in action scenes, and the ‘Maegam …’ and ‘Putham Pudhidhu’ numbers are laudable efforts from Yuvan.

There are moments when you laugh aloud, sequences you relish (Radhika’s poignant outburst, for instance) and portrayals you enjoy. Still there’s something significant missing in ‘Kannamoochi …’ — something that plays hide and seek with you and remains hidden till the end.

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