Kandasamy 2009

We managed to catch the latest Tamil blockbuster, Kandasamy in Taiping’s latest cineplex last week or so and since the cineplex was quite new, the seats were comfortable and the sound system was outstanding.

(Vikram surrounded by the Mexican drug dealer and bodyguards when he is on trail of black money)

The Plot

The story from Snastavirs’ blog:-

Kandasamy opens with scenes showing ordinary people flocking to a Murugan temple which has become famous as all your wishes can be fulfilled at the temple. All those who submit their woes as petitions to Kandasamy (another name for Lord Muruga) on a piece of paper and tie it to a tree in the temple, their problems mainly financial are solved.

Soon Kandasamy (Vikram) becomes a phenomenon, a caped crusader dressed as a rooster, takes up letters of ordinary folks from the petition tree, and in a Robin Hood way provides cash and succor. The local DIG of Police (Prabhu) suspects that there is something unnatural about it and starts investigating. Meanwhile there is this brave and daring CBI officer Kandasamy (Vikram), who is on a mission to uncover black money and illegal wealth of rich and corrupt Indians stashed in foreign banks, which he believes is responsible for all the crime in our society. And our hero has the IQ of a genius, the strength of a bull and the speed of a cheetah.

Soon he crosses swords with Pallur Paramajyoti Ponnusamy or PPP (Ashish Vidyarti), the man with a golden tooth and conducts a raid in his palatial bungalow and finds unaccounted cash and documents of various foreign deals worth over Rs 1000 crore! PPP is devastated after the raid and his only daughter Subbalakshmi (Shriya Saran) swears revenge and pretends to fall in love with the dashing IPS officer.

What is the connection between masked crusader Kandasamy and the CBI officer Kandasamy? Why is the CBI Joint Director Krishna Rao (Telugu actor Krishna) protecting Mr. Kandasamy? Can the villains- PPP, Rajmohan of RMG group, and Mexican Pitchumani (Alex) expose and bring Kandasamy to trial? Will the DIG succeed in proving that Kandasamy is no God?

The underlining message in the film is, “Money (read black) is the root cause of all evil”.

(Story within a story – the fight and romance between Vikram & Shriya – unfortunately a distraction to the key storyline)

Storyline

Kandasamy tackles the same issue as in the Rajini’s Sivaji – the influx of ‘black money’ and how it is creating havoc on the ordinary citizens. In both movies, the ‘hero’ gets the money out from the rich & powerful and into the hand of ordinary citizens.

With Vikram in the lead, one can trace elements of Anniyan in this movie. However, there are several key differences between the 2. The dark character in Anniyan was quite evil and did not hesitate to kill if things are not done the right way. In Anniyan, Vikram played an innocent Ambi who was a lawyer who suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder.

In Kandasamy, Vikram plays a powerful CBI officer and is helped by a group of friends from various enforcement agencies and who are working for both sides (the good guys and bad guys) and indirectly assisted by the CBI department head himself. The fight scenes were more logical this time as Vikram was not alone when fighting several bad guys. Despite and obvious ‘loophole’ (how come the bad guys did not noticed this?), his friends helped out in the background with pulleys, special effects and music. And instead of correcting the wrongful with cold blood murder,

Vikram plays a cooler headed Robin Hood who takes black money from the rich and gives it out to the poor without much violence (except during the climax).

(Vikram in disguise and in fight with a corrupt policeman in the opening scene of the movie – it was one of the best opening so far, with fast paced music and background)

Directorship

Susi Ganesan may be a new name when it comes to Tamil movies but he had worked in many movies before especially the master Mani Ratnam in several movies. And he made sure the storyline remains logic and no major bad acting evident in the movie. The CBI investigations are done rather meritoriously.

The scenes in Mexico were well directed and the sinister side of the drug dealers shines. Cinematographer N K Ekambaram’s work is excellent especially at the close ups and the scenes in Mexico – not too creative but enough to ensure the scenes are crystal clear.

(The many faces of Vikram in the movie – he also acted as an old man and a lady)

Acting

Vikram as usual shines in his role as the tough CBI officer who is also playing a ‘robin-hood’ role at night. Whilst Vikram handled the more serious side of the story, comedian Vadivelu had us entertained with his usual comical stints. The funniest part would be when he decided to dress up like the mysterious Kandasamy and on the way to make quick money, get entangled with the policeman who was bashed by the real Kandasamy. Shriya looks good in between the story gap and does nothing much other than providing candy for the eyes.

Music

Devi Sri Prasad a seasoned Tamil music director shined with interesting hits for this movie. The theme song – Kandasamy was motivational and inspiring. The others like Excuse Me Mr. Kandaswamy and Mambo Mamiya are also catchy and nice to hear. The ‘cat’ song was a total waste of screen time and talents but I guess it is a norm to have 1 or 2 bad songs.

Final say

The plus points: The plot (not original but has more logic this time), music and comedy

The negative points: Love scenes (I think directors should make up their mind on the main theme of their films – action movie or romance movie – please stick to just one)

(All images from Indiaglitz)