Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum (2016)

Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum (காதலும் கடந்து போகும்) starring Vijay Sethupathi and Premam fame Madonna Sebastian is directed by Soodhu Kavvum  Nalan Kumarasamy. It’s an official remake of the Korean film My Dear Desperado (2010). Having seen few Korean films I can visualize how the film might have appealed in original, but the Tamil adaptation fails to impress. Mangoidiots rates the film Raw.

The story is about two people with different upbringing working their way  up in life, crossing and helping each other. Yazhini is the daughter of a railway station master from a small city, who dreams of landing a big job in Chennai and living on her own terms. Yazhini loses her first job, and to give her time to find a new job, she rents a flat in a low-income locality. Opposite to her flat lives Kathir, who is a small-time rowdy working for a local politician and bar owner, just returning from Prison after serving five years on behalf of his boss.

Madonna has lived the character of a girl raised by conservative parents with middle-class values well. She has a bright future ahead of her in the silver screen. For Vijay Sethupathi, acting the character should have been a walk in the park. The highlight of the film for me was the scene where Kathir, just before the climax, forces his young assistant back. Karthir urges the boy not to get fooled by the empty promises that their bosses make to send them to prison. There is a powerful message here for youngsters on how gangism kills their future.

The “Ka ka po” song was already a hit, raising the expectation for the film. The dialogue where Madonna compares spending the night with Kathir to be the same as Eskimos spending the night with their pet dog.

It takes more than an hour into the film to grasp that Kathir is not the same as Pandi from Naanum Rowdy Thaan. Madonna as Yazhini, with her makeup and dubbing, keeps reminding me of Bindu from Naan E. This lack of a distinct character establishment prevents us from relating to the story better, and that’s the shortcoming of the Ka Ka Po. Samuthirakani has a corrupt former cop who fails to leave a mark.