`'Idhu
Kathirvelan Kadhal` - fizzles out before it can entertain (IANS Tamil Movie
Review) Rating: **
In `Ok Ok`, which released two years ago, Udhayanidhi and Santhanam
upped the bromance bar with their enjoyable onscreen presence. That film was the
former's cinematic debut, but with the help of the latter he pleasantly
surprised the audience with his decent performance and they turned out to be the
best entertaining male pair in Tamil filmdom.
In `Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal`, also made along the lines of `Ok
Ok`, the same pair fails to live up to the expectations and delivers a
product that fizzles out even before it could entertain.
Udhayanidhi plays Kathirvelan, a Hanuman devotee who doesn't look up to women
since the age of five for no reason. In an attempt to reconcile a
misunderstanding between his sister and brother-in-law, Kathir arrives in
Coimbatore. He wouldn't leave the town until he unites his sister with her
husband. During his stay there, he reconnects with his long forgotten friend
Mayil (Santhanam), whom he had last met in college.
Meanwhile, Kathirvelan falls head over heels for Pavitra (Nayantara), his
neighbour, about whom his sister had warned and advised him to stay away from
because of a family feud. Since Kathirvelan is incapable of expressing his
feelings and he takes the service of Mayil to make Pavitra fall for him.
A quick comparison of `Ok Ok` and `Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal`
will reveal that the films have so much in common. In both the films, the hero
ends up taking the help of his best friend to woo the girl of his dreams. Both
the films feature a heroine who initially falls for a wrong guy and is
subsequently saved by the hero who bowls her over. In both the films, the hero
and his friend indulge in the most important conversations over booze.
The problem with `Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal` is that it blindly follows
in the footsteps of `Ok Ok` and expects you to embrace it, without
realizing that it isn't even half as funny as the latter.
With just a few scenes that genuinely evoke laughter, the film is mostly dreary,
melodramatic and snail-paced. Santhanam tries his best to entertain with his
overtly cliched one-liners, but not every time do they hit the bull's eye.
Even in 2014 we continue to portray a Tamil and Malayali speaking character with
vibhuti and chandan tilak, respectively, while text messages in the film are
exchanged in Tamil. Coimbatorean parents speak in Tamil with thick Coimbatore
accent, but their daughter speaks Tamil with no accent. Such stereotypes are
evident throughout the film when it could have been easily avoided.
Prabhakaran made a strong directorial debut two years back with `Sundarapandian`,
which garnered not just critical acclaim for him but as well as deep respect for
his talent. Sadly, all that is crushed to pulp with `Idhu Kathirvelan
Kadhal`, which treads aimlessly with the hope to entertain. But it falls
flat.
Santhanam is at his best but he seriously needs to reconsider playing different
roles. Udhayanidhi and Nayanthara play their parts well even when there's hardly
any scope to perform in the film, while talented artists like Saranya Ponvannan
and Jayaprakash are wasted.
Harris Jayraj's foot-tapping music in `Ok Ok` produced some
chartbusters that's remembered whenever a discussion about the film arises, but
it's the exact opposite in this film as you hardly remember even one song as you
walk out of the cinema hall.
`Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal` is a done to death rom-com that hardly
entertains.
TAMIL 
Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal Movie Team at BIG FM