With tons of pending work stressing my shoulders, I managed to pull some time off to watch this stunner. I was expecting a different movie from Bala and I should say I was not disappointed. Even after reading many reviews which suggested the movie to be showing disgusting realities, I never had any dilemma on whether I should watch the movie or not. Being a person who will immediately puke after seeing blood, I managed to watch many gory and disgusting movies like Hostel, Hostel2 and The Texas Chainsaw massacre without any difficulties. So, I decided to watch the movie irrespective of whatever it has!
To my surprise, it was too emotional for me than disgusting as many had suggested..especially, the scenes in which the physically challenged (thats an understatement) beggars are tortured by the villain….only Bala can tie a knot between an Aghori sanyasi and beggars with all sorts of deformities…there is no Hero, there is no Heroine, there is no Comedian, yet this film leaves a long lasting impact on you…It is a radical shift in acting for both Arya and Pooja…they completely excelled in their roles…I don’t know whether they deserve national award for their roles or not, but it is certainly the best for them so far…the task master he is, Bala extracted the best possible performance from all new comers, including those who would even struggle to open their mouth…I read somewhere that he spent nearly 9-12 hours in filming some shots…his efforts are definitely visible in the film…If I don’t mention the Maestro’s music here there’s no point in writing about the movie…the movie, which sans dialogues in many scenes, lives with Ilayaraja’s music…it is quite unfortunate that only two songs are picturized…
You all might wonder why I call this film a ‘ramble’…its because of few odd scenes that have been added just for the sake of commerical aspects…the police station scene ridiculing current actors was laughable but was an obvious digression from intended story line…similarly, I could witness lack of connection between few scenes which possibly could have occured due to the long tenure of this project, which exceeded 3 years!…the much hyped villain dies in the hands of Arya without even giving a tough fight and the movie ends abruptly…I still couldn’t figure out what was Bala’s intention…is it showcasing the Aghori life or is it bringing forward the reality of underworld mafia controlling beggars for their benefit? Though Bala managed to tie a knot between these two, it is not taut…
Punch: Naan Kadavul – only for those who dare to experience difference and digest raw realities
