"Naan Kadavul"="Oh My God!"

"One should never watch "Naan Kadavul" for the first time"-A slightly altered Nehru's view of USA.

"Naan Kadavul" is not your ordinary film where love blooms at first sight in a fast moving train or the hero has to beat 10 persons up with a single punch or whatever(You know all cliches in Tamil cinema.Kollywood is a funny industry where cliches run for 175 days).Bala is not your usual director,either.

Right from the "Scene 1 Take 1" block,the viewer is transported to an offbeat world full of weird godmen and beggars-The predicament made more haunting by The King's music.Though the film does not have a proper storyline,it keeps the audience in thrall.

Aarya(The long beard,the firy eyes,the Paan chewing mouth,the frightening voice-He lives as Rudran) does deliver his best but it is surprising to see that his character is almost a cameo.His character is not properly etched and after a point,his refrains of "Aham brahmasmi" and other incantations become a chore.

Pooja is the soul of the film.In the prelude to the climax,her acting reaches such exalted heights that there was a big gasp from the audience-"OMG".Surely she deserves a national award.

The brave attempt by Bala to take a peek into the ugly world of beggars will be despised by many.I personally appreciate the director's pains in taking us into an altogether unexplored world full of handicapped beggars(Legs twisted,hands twisted,abnormal stomach,midgets,eunuchs,whatnot).Unsettling stuff.Ladies will abhor this part too badly.

Dialogues are sharp and philosophical(One scene where all contemporary tamil heroes are made fun of is very good).There is an atheistic point of view in the dialogues.("God is watching all from above" says a character.Comes a sharp repartee,"Never mind that Bastard").Brave!

The movie has enjoyable one liners.That midget boy is impressive and humorous giving us some relief amidst all the heavy stuff.Arthur C Wilson's camera work is  first class turning rough prose into poetry.

Saving the best for the last,each and every scene of the movie comes alive with fantastic BGM by Ilayaraja.He comes up with one of his best scores to brighten this dark movie.With this movie,Ilayaraja delivers a strong statement to his competitors-"Naan Kadavul"!

A quick reminder of the minuses of the movie:

1.The wafer-thin storyline.

2.Ambiguous screenplay.Unconnected scenes.No proper reason for why Rudran comes from Kasi and why he goes back again to Kasi.

3.Too gory and morbid.8 women left the theatre after 25 minutes into the film.

4.The ideology behind the film-"Mercy Killing"- is very lightly touched upon in the end and one wonders if it is the central theme of the film at all.

5.Will not cater to any class audience.Everyone will call it as "World class" but no one will watch it the second time!

Overall-Naan Kadavul-Could have been,Would have been,Should have been!

 If Cinema is escapism,then Perarasu is better than Bala.If Cinema is involvement,then Bala can proudly proclaim,"Naan Kadavul"

UMESH rating: * * *(3 stars)