Movie Review: Kadhaparayumbol

Srinivasan’s golden touch continues. His ability to churn out scripts that have the right blend of commercial value and realistic themes is simply phenomenal. This film is based on friendship. It is a story of two friends who grew up together but their lives take different turns. One of them (played by Momooty) grows up to become a huge movie star, while the other (played by Srinivasan) becomes a barber who lives in small, beautiful town. This might sound cliched but the treatment is what makes this movie very interesting.

The movie revolves completely around the barber’s life. There are no scenes about the friends in their childhood (like you would find in most conventional films). In fact, the movie star character makes an appearance only towards the end (if you discount one song sequence which was thrust in under the pretext of the movie star shooting a film). The early part of the film focuses on the barber struggling to make both ends meet.

There is plenty of everyday small town humor that had the audience in splits. Srinivasan delivers scores of funny lines all with a straight face (as he usually does) throughout the film. The bulk of the film focuses on how the barber’s life changes dramatically (for the worse) after the movie star comes to the small village to shoot a film. Despite his best efforts the word gets out about his past history with the big movie star. The entire village sees him as the “gateway” to the movie star. He however does not believe in raking up the past or currying favors. He believes instead in honest living despite his everyday struggles.

The end is a quick fire tear jerker (lasting only a few scenes) revolving around friendship and the movie stars’ side of the story. There are some pointed lines to dispel the myth about movie stars, and the craze for movie stars in general.

The early parts can be a little slow. Two songs were thrust in for commercial value. Overall a very enjoyable film. Tactfully made and brilliantly scripted.

p.s: This movie is being remade in Tamil, starring Tamil Superstar, Rajnikanth.