KAADHALIKKA NERAMILLAI review

Shridhar’s home production company, Chithraalaya is behind the landmark movie, Kaadhalikka Neramillai – the first Indian movie about young love, played by young actors and written and directed by a youngster. R.Muthuraamanm shares the lead role with a very young Ravichandhran, making his acting debut. They are supported by Nagesh, Raajashri and another debutante, actress Kanchana. Others in the cast of Kaadhalikka Neramillai are T.S.Balaiah, V.S.Raghavan, Sachu, Radhabhai, Prabhaagar and Veeraasamy.

Kaadhalikka Neramillai is a romantic comedy entertainer with the golden touch of Director Shridhar all over it. Vasu – played by R.Muthuraman – and Ashok – played by debutante actor Ravichandhran – are close friends. Ashok is the assistant manager at a mill owned by the rather highly strung Visvanathan – played by T.S.Balaiah. Because of an unfortunate altercation with Visvanathan’s younger daughter, Nirmala – played by Raajashri – Ashok is fired from his job. The one positive aspect that emerges from the incident is that Ashok and Nirmala slowly fall in love. When Visvanathan one day makes a comment at the dinner table that he would never allow his daughters to marry into a poor family, Nirmala is dismayed.

Ashok, on the other hand, is undaunted. He comes up with a zany plan. He gets his friend Vasu, to disguise himself as an old man and pretend to be his (Vasu’s) unbelievably rich father. Of course, how could they predict that Nirmala’s elder sister is the girl Vasu is in love with; or that Visvanathan and Vasu’s father, Satchidhaanandham are old friends. If they did, they would have realised that their elaborate scam would be anything but easy to pull off. Lie follows lie and the deception grows with delightful intensity in this witty, warm and very believable comedy entertainer – made in the way only Shridhar can.

This film is a refreshing break-away from the predictable formula-type movies. There are no fight sequences, no heavy melodrama or even a hint of a moral or political message. Instead, Shridhar had one aim – and only one aim – in mind : Pure entertainment. This he achieves easily, given the wit of his scripting and the talents of his cast.

R.Muthuraaman is excellent in his portrayal of Vasu. The scenes in which he has to play Ashok’s father will no doubt produce more than a few chuckles and guffaws. T.S.Balaiah is in the most impressive role I have seen him in. A snobbish bigot – but charming and lovable at the same time, Balaiah’s role as Visvanathan is the most lingering role of the film.

It is difficult to think of Ravichandhran as a debutante in this film. He has all the charm and style of a seasoned actor and his timing in the comedy is nothing short of perfect. The King of Comedy, Nagesh is also in a delightful role as the aspiring film director, who himself need direction. Wit, puns and intelligent humour characterise his role in this film. Raajashri and Sachu are both very impressive. Kanchana is in a stunning debut and – like Ravichandhran – shows no sign at all of this being her first film. V.S.Raaghavan is the best of the others.

Scripting by Shridhar and Gopu is the most impressive aspect of the film. It must have been very tempting to go the slapstick route when working on a comedy – and one needs also to take into consideration the age of this film as well when assessing the scripting. Razor-sharp wit abounds in the intelligent scripted thus making this film eligible to stand up against any of the modern comedies and still come up trumps.

The story – also penned by Shridhar and Gopu follows the perfect pace and is neither too complicated or over simplified. The result is top class entertainment.

Music in Kaadhalikka Neramillai has been scored by Mellisai Mannargall Visvanathan-Ramamoorthy. It is impossible to ignore their contribution to this film. Their background score makes it obvious that the film was aimed exclusively at the younger generation. The success of the soundtrack of Kaadhalikka Neramillai has since become legendary. Every song – without exception – is a melodious hit. My favourites are Unga ponnaaa Kaigall, Visvanathan velai Vehnum and Malar endra mugam enna sirrikattum. All the songs have been penned by Kaviyarasu Kannadassan.

The songs feature some very modern choreography by dance master Thangappan. The choreography in the songs Visvanathan velai Vehnum and Malar endra mugam enna sirikattum are the most impressive. Art director Ganga has done an excellent job of the sets, amazingly steering clear of the stylised route.

Cinematography by A.Vincent is impressive, especially in the many outdoor scenes.

Produced and directed by Shridhar, Kaadhalikka Neramillai is a fabulous comedy entertainer that everyone simply must see.