Kollaikaran

Tamil (U/A)
Cast: Vidharth, Sanchita
Shetty, Shanthi, Ravishankar, Baby Varsha
Director: Tamizhselvan

Like its quite a portentous title (Looter), debutant director Tamizhselvan’s Kollaikaran does loot and sets your heart aflutter while you lose yourself in its loony, ludicrous and languid tale. Its tacky script in no way provides any relief from the shuffling and sniffling you are forced into as the tedious tale runs through its celluloid course careening to a calamitous climax. What makes Kollaikaran tick though is the savvy and slick packaging Tamizhselvan presents the film with.

Given that it is his debutant foray, he stacks up his flick with all the ensemble ingredients — comedy, mushiness, song ‘n dances, etc., to make it one heady mix of a hotch-potch regaler.

Set against the rustic canvas, Kollaikaran has Kuruvi, a street-smart rustler saddled with a mentally challenged kid-sister and an unwed elder. The whole village has given up on their wayward good-for-nothing son of the soil. However, when cupid comes calling draped as demure and docile Krishnaveni sashaying into his heart, our Kuruvi wants to turn a new leaf. However, with the villian in temple trustee Nagendran foisting false charges on the lad, it’s not a jolly jaunt for the already benighted boy or for that matter those of us that have trooped in to seek some enjoyment.

With a yarn as dated as a prehistoric Dodo, Tamizhselvan’s Kollaikaran is simply for those with time aplenty at hand and believe in a lazy, noon siesta in the cosy comforts of a theatre. Vidharth fits the bill as the troubled thief, so does Sanchita as the belle with a spring in her steps and a sparkle in her moony manners. Besides a song or two, some lushy green vintage village snapshots all go to make Kollaikaran just that bit passable.