3.5 / 5
Mani Ratnam’s movies are known for dreamy visuals and mesmerizing music. Kadal delivers both and it is a terrific audio-visual experience. Rajeev Menon and A.R.Rahman have definitely brought their A-Game to the movie and Rahman’s BG soundtrack is also grand to say the least.
Rajeev might garner some awards for his work in the movie and the seaside has been captured in its entire splendor. Even seemingly ordinary objects get a different perspective thanks to Rajeev’s lens.
The movie also has some strong performances from Arjun and Arvind Swamy. Arjun spews rage and aggression while a beefed-up / bulky Arvind makes a good comeback. His screen presence is still handsome and classy. Both the actors have tried their best to pronounce the dialect well.
Gautham Karthik makes a spirited debut and he can emote well. The guy is wiry, has a good physique and is bound to go places. Thulasi Nair is bubbly, spontaneous and plays the typical Tamil film heroine who acts like a child, along the lines of Laila and Genelia. The director also throws a psychological disorder angle to her character graph thereby mocking the age-old characterization of Tamil cinema heroines.
The movie’s story is basically one of settling old scores between the characters played by Arjun and Arvind Swamy. While the former is a cold go-getter who goes against the Church, the latter is a pious Christian father. Their ideologies clash and both of them experience their fair share of pain due to the other.
Gautham Karthik is a pawn between the two main players and he is caught between their two ideologies. While Arjun uses him as an aggressive player, the ‘godfather’ like Arvind wishes to see him lead a peaceful life after a really disturbed childhood which leaves him homeless.
Gautham also has a love angle with Thulasi, as expected and she is also part of the main scheme of things, as we are later told.
The movie is predictable and doesn’t have any spikes. It moves at a leisurely pace and you can’t expect anything racy. The climax is very thrilling though thanks to the superb VFX. A ship-wreck on a stormy day has been authentically portrayed.
Among the songs, Magudi is the best. The title credits are a really memorable experience thanks to this techno track which is also used to show Gautham Karthik’s character progression. Chithirai Nila is another mesmerizing composition rendered beautifully by Vijay Yesudas. This song is also used very well in the movie to support poignant and emotionally-heavy scenes. Nenjukulle and Moongil Thottam come in quick succession and both seem to have been shot at the same place. Adiye has been shot like the Nenjinille number from Uyire. Expected more from this song! Elay Keechan is a happy treat and introduces Gautham Karthik on screen. Anbin Vasale puts the movie to a closure.
Mani’s expertise at using child artistes is legendary and the boy who plays the ‘growing up’ Gautham Karthik is superb. The way he emotes in the scene where he speaks his heart out to the radio is unbelievable. The kid who plays the ‘really small’ Gautham Karthik is also very likable. Nice casting for sure with these two lads. The director has also used the radio very well as a device in his narrative. Lakshmi Manchu has a predictable cameo and in fact both the twists in the movie can be foreseen.
To sum up, Kadal is a typical Mani Ratnam movie in the audio-visual sense. The story is simple and doesn’t have any major highpoints. Ultimately, the quality of the film-making lifts the movie and makes it watch-worthy. The second half is also bound to be appealing to the normal cine-goer who seeks a potboiler.
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