8.4
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Movie: Kadal (2013)
Cast: Gautham Karthik,Thulasi Nair, Arjun, Arvind Swamy
Producer: Mani Ratnam and A Manohar Prasad
Director: Mani Ratnam
Music: AR Rahman
Release Date: 1 Feb 2013
Genre: Romance, Drama
Run Time: 164 minutes
Cast: Gautham Karthik,Thulasi Nair, Arjun, Arvind Swamy
Producer: Mani Ratnam and A Manohar Prasad
Director: Mani Ratnam
Music: AR Rahman
Release Date: 1 Feb 2013
Genre: Romance, Drama
Run Time: 164 minutes
Kadal (2013)
User Score
5.6
(640 votes)
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After the failure of Raavanan, filmmaker Mani Ratnam has taken more than two years to mould his next master-piece, which features newcomers like Gautham Karthik and Thulasi Nair in the lead roles. His latest directorial venture has simultaneously been made and released in Tamil as Kadal and in Telugu as Kadali. Prior its release, the videos and posters of the film have created huge amount of expectations about it.
Kadal is a beautiful romance drama with some commercial ingredients like action and punch dialogues. Debutante Gautham and Arjun Sarja’s electrifying performances are the main attraction in the movie. AR Rahman’s music, Rajiv Menon’s visual treat, Jeyamohan’s wonderful script and Mani Ratnam’s elegant narration and dialogues, beautiful artworks, costumes and locations are its other strengths.
Story
Kadal revolves around life of Christian fishermen, who instill the fact that how faith can sometimes lead to the triumph of humanity. Set in the background of a fishing village, the film tells the story of an individual, who is caught up between sin and redemption. Mani Ratnam has beautifully intertwined this subject with a love story.
Kadal is all about good versus evil. It is a war between two characters, who have contradicting thoughts and beliefs and ultimately good will prevail over evil. The story begins with Berman (Arjun Sarja) challenging Sam Fernando of teaching him a lesson, after the latter was asked to leave from an institution for committing a mistake.
Then, Sam Fernando turns a priest and comes to a fishing hamlet to revive a church, which is in dilapidated state. It comes to the place where people have least respect towards the religion. He gradually wins the trust of the people and turns guru to Thomas (Gautham Karthik), a mischievous kid. Suddenly, Berman enters the picture with several wounds on his body. Sam saves his life and Berman expresses his wish to meet his lover played by Lakshmi Manchu.
The story takes a twist here and the father sees himself behind the bars due to Berman’s cunning tricks. At this juncture, Berman woos Thomas, who is in love with Beatrice played by Thulasi Nair, pulls Thomas to his side and what happens next should be seen on-screen.
Kadal moves back and forth between being a tender love story and a revenge drama, heavily leaning towards the vendetta angle in the second half. One has seen the trajectory this film takes before, the only difference being the milieu.
So, what comes with the milieu is the different dialect and of course the sea with its various shades. The dialogues are rooted in that area and may be difficult for some to follow.
Though the story may not be emotionally intense, the technical competence and acting make up for it. Mani Ratnam’s films have top-notch cinematography with excellent people handling the camera.
Rajiv Menon has shot the sea in all its different moods and colours. Shots of Cyclone Nilam are terrifying to view on the screen.
Mention must be made of the art director Shashidhar Adapa, who chose the locales (including the picturesque Andaman Islands), villages and churches where the movie was filmed.
A R Rahman’s music is another strong point of the film. The songs are chartbusters in any case. Adiye was choreographed well on the stark sands. Other songs Moongil Thottam and Nenjukulle were filmed in pretty settings. The background score also enhanced the film considerably.
Arvind Swamy comes back after about 12 years and he was aptly cast for the role. His eyes are expressive and he gives a good and subtle performance.
Arjun’s was the more power-packed role and these two actors actually stood out, pitted against each other.
Debutant Gautham Karthik, who had quite a substantial role, pulled it off with elan. He had to showcase a variety of emotions – raw, rugged, earthy, tender – and he made a mark. Gautham is a natural performer and is surely here to stay.
The other newcomer, Thulasi, is natural and has lent an air of grace to her role. As a pair, Gautham and Thulasi looked good and did a good job. Lakshmi Manchu has a brief role and is quite convincing in it.
Kadal has all the elements of a regular entertainer but has nothing new in terms of a story. In fact, this story could have been played out against any backdrop and one wonders why the fishing village milieu was chosen.
Somehow, we expected something more from Mani Ratnam.
Kadal is not a perfect storm, but it’s far from a sinking proposition. It floats comfortably midstream, coasting along on the strength of attractive actors and visuals.
Mani’s expertise doesn’t have too much room here, despite his ability to pack action and drama into his usual way of story telling. A few questionable moments and a lot of worrying logic lapses, you feel sad for what the movie comes down to.
Gautham Karthik, the youngster is full of energy and has an awful lot to do before the movie even settles down. And with the most engrossing sequences, he shines and makes you take notice. He deserves a pat on the back for his efforts.
Thulasi Nair, as young as a heroine might get at 15, doesn’t get as lucky as her co-star. In all fairness, the actress looks out of place in a plot that could have had more for her. But her efforts are far too little to handle a collapse in plot. She will have to wait it out until her next to impress.
Two pivotal characters in the film, Aravind Swamy and Arjun are pillars of strength to Kadal. The former, his acting has gone nowhere, and his refreshing dialogues catch you off guard and remind you of his existence. Arjun on the other hand dons a role that’s quite new to him, dark and enigmatic. His dialogue delivery is exquisite and builds the story to better heights. Thambi Ramiah seems to have finally gotten some attention he deserves and is making it to the big league. Lakshmi Manchu gets a short role and could have had more to showcase her skills.
Rahman’s music is just brilliant. But great songs and background scores don’t make up movies on their own. Out of the pack of amazing numbers, three manage to be stand out music videos – Elay Keechan, Adiye and Nenjukulley. However, some of the song sequences are just plain, and far below the director’s standard.
Technically, Kadal is as brilliant as any other Mani Ratnam film. Rajiv Menon’s camera brings light to the shots as wonderfully as you might expect. Jayamohan’s work on the dialogues is evident when you struggle to grasp on to the dialect on a few occasions where the slang is just overwhelming.
But at the end of the day, Kadal turns out to be very average. Dipped in commercialism that is very uncommon to Mani, the story slips and fumbles way to quickly in the latter half. Disappointing at best, the movie still has a few talking points like the music, or the exuberant lead actor and the roles played by Aravind Swamy and Arjun. However, the story tells you how even Mani Ratnam can sometimes suffer from a lack of consistency. Maybe we will have the raise the standards again to get the best out of the director.
Good vs. Evil isn’t a new premise by any means, yet the story has some interesting twists, and a fair share of ambiguities. Like, the reason for a rich man like Arvind Swami choosing to become a father in a church is touched upon but remains a mystery. As Ratnam doesn’t believe in being explicit, certain happenings stay unexplained.
If you expect the hero to wreak revenge on the man who harms his mentor, it doesn’t happen. But for the initial anger, he’s busy with his romantic overtures, criminal acts and grieving the death of his dad. That takes us to the much-hyped arrival of Gautam Karthik in tinsel town. A dream debut for any aspirant and the young actor utilises it well. He dances, fights and emotes with ease. Way to go, Gautam. In comparison, heroine Thulasi has little to do. Initially you are flummoxed by her childish grin — till of course you are given the reason for it. Did Ratnam want his heroine to be a little plump? If so, why, you wonder!
Bolstered up, as it is, by an ace technical team, Kadal weathers storms in the form of glitches (that aren’t like Ratnam at all) and protractions. A. R. Rahman’s ‘Nenjukkula’ is a chartbuster, but the way it’s shot is passé, while ‘Elay Keechan,’ a catchy first number for hero Gautam has been excellently choreographed. Many of the short lyrics used as fillers in the re-recording are awesome — the ‘Maram Ondru Vizhundhal’ quartet is an example. Vairamuthu and Madhan Karky share the honours. When an entire film is set in the lap of Nature it’s a field day for the cinematographer, because the milieu lends itself to aesthetics. So visually, Kadal is Rajeev Menon’s exotic portrait in motion. Art (Sasidhara Adappa) deserves special mention — be it the dilapidated church and its precincts, the fishing hamlet or the marketplace on the seashore.
Figuratively, if you are at sea at many a turn the reasons are obvious. The lingo of the fishing community isn’t completely familiar and before you can decipher what’s being said, ARR’s RR works with a vengeance to make the dialogue in many a sequence absolutely unintelligible. This becomes an exasperating exercise for the viewer and makes the film lose its grip on him. As somebody in the audience suggested, probably subtitles in Tamil would have helped! All the same, wherever it’s audible Jayamohan’s dialogue sparkles.
waste of money
BORE MOVIE
WASTE OF MONEY
not worth for money
it is not original manirathnam movie.. uttar waste
correct raghav my time and money waste
Camera & BGM stays n mind. Aravind samy’s performance s still alive
Gautam fits &Thulasi s cute and both played their role good. Love & exclaimed the way climax was pictured 0:) movie dint fail have flavours of maniratnam’s movie (location, dialogues, husky voices etc..)