From the very beginning, from the minute a lowly MNC employee rolls off his bed in a tiny house whose walls bear a poster of T Rajendar, Nalan Kumarasamy’s Soodhu Kavvum is a demonstration of what’s possible when movies are made for the sheer joy of making movies. There isn’t a single calculated moment, something cynically aimed to satisfy this segment of the audience or that one. Everything is organic, the events rooted in a nutty story and sprouting through a brilliant screenplay. Like a collector who polishes his vintage car every morning, you sense in this team the pride of ownership, that it’s their film and that they have to treat it the best way possible. The performances (in a cast toplined by Vijay Sethupathi), the cinematography, the dialogues, the sets, the editing, the outstanding songs and background score – it’s all one of a piece, with nothing sticking out with attention-grabbing awkwardness. Most thrilling of all is the gleeful amorality – there’s not a nalla karuthu in sight.
It’s difficult to discuss Soodhu Kavvum – which centres on a botched kidnapping (sorry, “kednaping”) attempt – without spoiling it for the first-time viewer, because it isn’t about what happens so much as how these things happen. It’s about the vibe. It’s about the parking valet who bathes and changes into fresh clothes and applies sacred ash on his forehead and then sits down to have a drink, delivering an impassioned rant about the futility of reading newspapers. It’s about the loser who, like James Stewart in Harvey, introduces people to his invisible companion. It’s about a politician who seeks solitude while tucking into pizza. It’s about a kidnapper who picks up the ransom money coolly, as if he were a delivery boy for a courier company picking up a package. It’s about the funniest spelling mistake ever, where an innocent declaration of lunching out is reduced to an unprintable sexual act. It’s about a name like Nambikkaikannan.
The director’s uncompromising vision – in the current Tamil-cinema scenario, where box-office compromises are everywhere, you could even call this some kind of conscientiousness – extends to the songs and the fights, which don’t cut into the pace of the film but instead enhance the overall mood. The only full-fledged song (the irresistible Kaasu panam) is a dream sequence that takes place in an Indra sabha-like set, where the dancers are in gold ribbons and red sneakers. And a fight scene (featuring the excellent Yog Japee, who plays a “psycho inspector“) is cut as a montage, invigorated by backdrops that keep changing. The quirk, thankfully, isn’t overdone. Had every scene been saturated with colour, we’d have ended up exhausted – there’s just enough bizarreness to keep us wondering if, for instance, the casual shot of oranges at the corner of a frame has anything to do with a character thinking up a plot point about the fruit for a film named Honeymoon.
Soodhu Kavvum doesn’t quite explode the way you expect it to – I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I think the pacing in some stretches is a bit off – but that’s a small price to pay in the face of such riches. This is the kind of film that marries Tamil cinema with cinema from beyond. From the former, we get a line like “Yen da en nanban-a adiche?’ – a clever reworking of a cliché that invites not eye-rolls but laughs. And from the latter we have such surreal moments as the small song that reunites hero and heroine in heaven… in the middle of a torture scene. I am most curious to see how Soodhu Kavvum will be received – the noir-comedy isn’t a genre we dabble in all that often – but of at least one thing there is little doubt. These brave little films are here to stay. Vijay Sethupathi, the poster boy of this cinema, was welcomed in his first scene with cheers and claps usually reserved for mass heroes making their entry. It’s the sweetest sound I’ve heard in years.
An edited version of this piece can be found here.
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Gans
May 4, 2013
Movie’s been getting rave reviews. Nalan’S short films are pretty hilarious. And a small mistake in the last part. Should be Sethupathi. Not Pasupathi
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Hari
May 4, 2013
its vijay sethupathy and not pasupathy.
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brangan
May 4, 2013
Thanks. Made the change. This is what happens when you race through five reviews in three days.
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Gans
May 4, 2013
Nalan’s short films have been quite the rage on youtube. Chk out ‘Nadandathu ennana’
Btw, its Sethupathi and not Pasupathi
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ram
May 4, 2013
They clapped and whistled and cheered on VS appearance on screen. I felt the film should have been little more taut towards the end. Having said that, I agree with you that those mistakes are forgivable, considering the entertainment, we received till climax.
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meera
May 5, 2013
Oh yeah… These short films are giving the big banner ones a chance for a challenge. Tat kasu panam song is so infectious.. Best after rathiriyil 🙂
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apala
May 5, 2013
BRangan,
Great review as usual! I completely agree with you that the riches are so much that few glitches are happily forgiven! I think it’s one of the best movies that came out of Tamil film industry.
Vijay Sethupathi really makes good choices and I am excited with all his movies now! (Maybe all those thala and thalapathi’s and all …….stars take some advice from him). BTW in his next movie “itharkkaakaththaanE aasai pattaai balakumara” his character name is sumar moonchi kumar!! I am already hooked!
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venkatesh
May 5, 2013
Now that what i am talking about ., bring em on
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brangan
May 5, 2013
apala: Even the names of these films are such fun, no? 🙂
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udhay
May 6, 2013
Here in Trichy…..
The theater completely seems deserted…..
Brilliant Movie and Superb review as usual…….
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Krishnan
May 6, 2013
I thought VS’s next venture was Pannaiyarum Padminiyim.
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nellaivel
May 6, 2013
nice movie.. but in second part it was bit lagging… i think new wave cinema is blowing up in tamil film of late with arrival of young directors who are able to communicate with the audiences very well with their story telling technique like pizza, attakatti, naduvala kongam pathia kanum, and sudu kavvum…
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aandthirtyeights
May 8, 2013
There were references to NKPK – Kesavan asks Dass, “Ennaachu?” in the same tone – and Pizza. I wonder if the oranges were a reference to this Telugu movie that Sanchita Shetty acted in called “Orange”.
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raj
May 9, 2013
aandthirtyeights – brilliant observations, you must be such a cinema lover to dig for such references. Hats(which I am not wearing at the moment) off! A tribute to contemporary tamil new-wave movies by a contemporary tamil new-wave movie, plus a delightful dig on the campy, deliberately over-the-top sensibility of contemporary telugu movies. Farah Khan(and Baradwaj Rangar) thOthA pOngo,
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Kiruba
May 10, 2013
So it’s actually ‘Soo..u kizhiyum’ then!!
To me, it was the first half that seemed a bit stretched out. More than adequately compensated for post interval. Particularly liked how they managed to pack in a host of cliches from this genre (hero’s soul mate, kidnapping oneself, video recording etc) only to systematically destroy them within minutes.
It released here only today and was totally worth the wait.
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Pravin
May 13, 2013
A great film! The Shallu character reminds of Don Quixote novel in which the hero falls in love with an unseen unheard peasant. Of course, in SK only the audience see Shallu in flesh and blood but not the other characters! Beautifully done…
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stalkersanon
May 14, 2013
aandthirtyeights, yes, loved those references, and the CM’s pizza lunch itself I thought was a reference to the movie Pizza. Also, wasn’t that Karthik Subburaj in the Jaguar scene? It’s brilliant, IMO, that these young directors are establishing an ecosystem where they are feeding off of each other and having a blast, as brangan said, for the joy of making movies. I really hope reality doesn’t bite soon.
And brangan, re. the imaginary Shalu. I wonder if it came out of a commercial need to have a dose of “glamar,” which the film-makers very cleverly turned into a wink at that imperative. Because that character is completely superfluous in that testosterone-loaded set-up, but now she feels totally integral to Vijay Sethupathy’s character. Pretty fantastic.
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rajan
May 15, 2013
what a whacky film …tamil cinema is moving on.And yog japee is an astonishing actor .Has he acted in other tamil films?
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KP
May 16, 2013
Yog japee in many Gautham menon movie as the baddie famously, as Ranjit in the rebooted Billa.
-KP
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Aparna
May 17, 2013
Watched it today, Baradwaj. What a movie! You know, the irreverent humour, the situational comedy, the kidnapping, all of it reminded me of Wodehouse (Uncle Fred in the Springtime, particularly). And watching the trailer of the Santhanam – Siddarth movie in the interval made me think if it will be anywhere as funny as this one was! (Actually, it wasn’t just funny-funny – it was entertaining, in the true sense of the word, a feeling that it was money and time well spent :))
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Kutty
May 19, 2013
Finally, finally managed to watch the movie! And I was left wishing, I did not have wait so long. The first 30 minutes (not watch but mental count) was just outstanding. The way that the character traits are set up so beautifully in a manner of minutes was reminiscent of the good old KB days when each character would be so beautifully etched out that you would understand their thought process.
Besides, curious to know how you compare this with Aaranya Kaandam, which was supposed to be the start of Tamil New Wave- but then we have had to wait for some time to emerge from the trough towards the crest. Personally, felt it was a delightful mix of the style of film-making from Aaranya Kaandam with the irreverence of Tamizh Padam (especially post the introduction of so many characters).
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Ravi K
May 21, 2013
I enjoyed this film a lot. It’s great to see a Tamil film that works as a film and an experience, not as a checklist of obligatory elements. The humor worked, the story flowed and was always engaging (if a little lagging in the second half). No obligatory “bathroom break” songs getting in the way of the film, no unnecessary sentiment or moralizing. Just an entertaining and creative dark comedy.
I wonder if the “heroine” was a wry comment on heroines in Tamil films essentially being imaginary creatures. They’re so unreal they might as well be half-baked imaginary women instead of real ones.
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sridhar270
May 22, 2013
I wouldn’t mind a prequel/spinoff on the Das-Shailu (?) past/future.
Looks like there’s going to a sequel to Pizza. Quite excited. These Thirukumaran Entertainment seem to be backing a lot of “indie” projects.
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Anon
June 1, 2013
Best Tamil movie of the year so far, with apologies to Messers KH, MR and GVM..
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parthibanmanoharan
June 2, 2013
“itha idly endu sonna chutney kooda nambathuda” great lines, entertainign watch. This is how commerical movies should be!
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AlterEgO (@skc89)
June 4, 2013
really loved the movie…and its also like satire on the current events taking place.Just like jaanebhi do yaaron but ofcourse falls short!
excellent stuff..!
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ranjith
June 29, 2013
and why does bramma never wear a cap…well nalan kumaraswami said so….:)
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venkatesh
July 28, 2013
Watched this again – this gets better with a second viewing , lots of in-jokes in the movie. Brilliant stuff this.
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