Kozhipannai Chelladurai Review : Veteran director Seenu Ramasamy is back with yet another rural family drama produced by the hero Aegan himself. Will the audience sit through this serial like narration? Will the hero gain mileage and recover his investment are million dollar questions though outside of the context of this review.
Story
A mother of two children (Aishwarya Dutta) is caught red handed by her army man husband having an affair with a man. Fearing that they will be murdered the woman and her lover elope. The father abandons his son and daughter. The boy Chelladurai joins as a child labourer in a poultry farm owned by Periasamy (Yogi Babu) a distant relative. He grows up as the hero Aegan who dotes on his younger sister Jayasudha (Satya). In the present, Periasamy having lost his poultry farm is running a chicken stall where Chelladurai assists him apart from working part time in other businesses. Jayasudha falls in love with her college mate (Leo Sivakumar) which causes friction between the siblings. Meanwhile there is also a young girl (Brigida) who is head over heels in love with the hero though he never reciprocates for reasons best known to Seenu Ramasamy. The rest of the ‘Kozhippani Chelladurai’ screenplay (!?) is about the unnecessary sacrifices the hero makes to prove himself as a good man and fails, to the audience that is.
Aegan who was seen in a supporting role in the sleeper hit ‘Joe’ has done what is required. Yogi Babu is okayish is an aged character though his jokes fall flat. Kutti Puli Dinesh’s one liners and counter work to a certain extent while Satya, Bava Chelladurai and Leo Sivakumar are also in the cast. Brigida Saga filling in for the template heroine of the 80s who pursues the hero in spite of being rejected is the sole consolation as acting comes easy to her.
Cinematographer Ashok Raj has captured the natural beauty of Theni district while NR Raghunandan’s background music is a plus though the songs did not leave much of an impact on the mind. Editor Sreekar Prasad could have further reduced the length of the second half, which goes on and on in TV serial mode. Similarly, his stamp is missing as far as his editing is concerned!
The thought of changing the lives of those people is great! But instead of creating a screenplay that brings us closer to those people, artificially demanding scenes can make them drift away. Although the opening scenes of parental separation and helplessness convey its agony, the film fails to vividly convey the support of love that follows. Director Seenu Ramasamy, who initially places a card in the titles that life is all about unexpected turns, utterly disappoints in the way he scripted the entire film in the most predictable manner. There is some unintended fun moments when both Chelladurai’s mother and father reappear in his life in consecutive sequences demanding sacrifices from him which he duly obliges.
Seenu Ramasamy has also tried to include such issues like Transgender welfare, body shaming, and anti-war stances among others. But the question of what all that has to do with this story is nagging. On the whole the entire effort looks like it was done without any sincerity towards the producers or respect for the audience.
Verdict : If you fancy a yawn filled slow motion time travel to the 80s melodrama era dont miss Kozhipannai Chelladurai
Rating : 2/5