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Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal movie director: Vignesh Shivan

Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal movie cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara and Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal movie rating:  2 stars

Director Vignesh Shivan’s latest romantic comedy Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal is a complete misfire. It offers very little but demands plenty of generosity from the audience to forgive Vignesh’s series of miscalculations in what seems to be a rush job of a movie.

Ranjankudi Anbarasu Murugesa Boopathy Oohoondhiran aka Rambo (Vijay Sethupathi) is a chick magnet. Why? Simple, because he’s poor but kind-hearted. He lacks charm but he’s compassionate. And above all, he can fight to protect the honour and respect of women. He’s the most cliched version of a mainstream hero, who won’t survive the real-world conditions if he’s left alone.

Rambo is convinced that he has been cursed. He is touted as a manifestation of bad luck. In fact, bad luck is his superpower. The lovers are aching to go on a jolly bike ride, the school children are running late for exams. And these people can’t go about their business as it’s raining cats and dogs. So Rambo decides to step up and save the day. By simply stepping outside and gazing at the sky, the rain comes to a complete stop. He somehow has managed to hack into the consciousness of the cosmic and manipulate it at his whim.

It takes a lot of big-heartedness to buy into the premise of this film. After a few obnoxious twists and turns, narrated through chaotically stitched scenes that lack any creativity, literary or comedic value, Rambo finds Kanmani Ganguly (Nayanthara) and Khatija Begum (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) ready to kill or be killed for his love. Both women seek the protection of Rambo as they are deprived of a better option. Vignesh sort of creates the Rambo-is-the-last-man-alive-in-the-world situation. And these women end up taking the bait.

There is no chemistry among Rambo, Kanmani and Khatija . It’s unclear why either Kanmani or Khatija would wish to be locked in a romanceless relationship with Rambo. He can’t even look into the eyes of these women properly while speaking with them. And he’s very bad at romance or romantic gestures that sweep a woman off her feet. And yet, Kanmani and Khatija compete against each other for Rambo’s affection.

Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal is Vignesh’s wishful dream about a Sumaar Moonji Kumar becoming a chick magnet. Sumaar Moonji Kumar, meaning an average Joe, is the name of the character played by Vijay Sethupathi in Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara (2013). He had played the role of a stalker in the movie. But, he was passed off as harmless because he’s funny. Kumar is in love with a girl who is out of his league and he cannot take a hint, even when the girl he’s crushing on enlists the services of goons to beat him up so he would stop troubling her.

Vignesh has dreamt up a totally mindless romantic comedy around the idea of what if Sumaar Moonji Kumar becomes so irresistible that the most good looking, strong and self-reliant girls blindly devote themselves to his whims? That’s all there is to this film.

This film has been designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator as it expects us to crack up at double entendre dialogues like, “Ona kalyanam panitan ena panitan (he married you and slept with me).” Or clownish debate about which is better between almonds and pistachios, allegories for marriage and sex respectively.

There are only a couple of scenes which have some level of enjoyable humour. And those scenes have Redin Kingsley in them. Especially, in the scene when he questions his captor’s judgement on wasting petrol on him. And it strikes a chord given the prices of gasoline are skyrocketing.

The latent nature of adult comedy in this movie is a big turn off. This film aims to play into the wild fantasies of a lovelorn man by subtly sexualising the leading ladies. But, it’s neither clean humour nor an outright adult comedy. It’s a mess. The main reason is Vignesh’s indecisiveness. He wants to keep the film safe for people to watch it with family. And at the same time, sprinkle it with just enough double meaning dialogues and scenes so that people get the hint. It also wants to be a combination of director C. S. Amudhan’s Thamizh Padam, a spoof film, and Vignesh’s 2015 hit Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.

Author

The IndianExpress