Vennila Kabbadi Kuzhu - a nice picture

I saw VKK last weekend at AVM Rajeswari Theatre. Before I get on with the review of VKK, let me tell you something about AVM Rajeswari Theatre. I think this is the only theatre in Chennai which stills plays the National Anthem before the start of every show and people do respect it. Why cant this be followed in all the theatres?

Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu is a village oriented story with characters resembling real life. I have seen the promotional stills of this movie sometime back and I admit that their promotional stills were very impressive. Naturally I was very curious to watch this movie. The story revolves around an amateur Kabbadi team in a village which always participates in matches but never wins. They become the butt of many jokes in the village and the team players want to overcome their losing streak. The theme is so real and we see in everyday lives where people play a game more for the passion than for any achievement. The rest of the story is how they accidentally meet up with a state level coach who motivates and helps them achieve the improbable of winning a state level tournament. It has a beautiful love story attached to it which makes you get oriented with the movie instantly.

The movie is definitely a success when you see big crowd outside the theatre. The music is by V Selvaganesh, son of renowed ghatam artist, Vikku Vinayakaram and all the songs have come out very well. Almost the entire cast and crew are newcomers. Being the debut film, the director, music composer and the hero has done a fantastic job. The love part of the story is so natural and the lead artists (Vishnu and Saranya Mohan) have almost lived those characters, the only negative being it comes for a very short period. The comedy portion is entwined with the story so that it doesnt look odd. Village comes alive in front of you thanks to the excellent camera work by J Lakhsman. The locations are very apt and pleasing to your eyes. There are lot of people in the industry who have the talent and it is only matter of time before we start seeing more of them. VKK is another exhibtion of that!!

The film has its own list of downsides as well. The length of film could have been shortened to make the film more intense. In the end, it meanders for a while and you tend to lose interest. There is no strong reason why the kabbadi team should performing better after a 3 minute pep talk by the coach. I dont think the pep-talk could be termed very inspirational to turn a bunch of ordinary kabbadi players to become super-duper players instantly. Dialogues could have been sharper and the acting of the person playing the coach character a little better. I dont know why the Director chose a climax like that. I dont see any reason why it should end on a sombre note when it would have been better off if it is a happy ending. Probably, the director has to give away those scenes to the scissors of the editor.

Overall, it is a neat movie with good characterisation and decent screenplay. But it lacks the emotional appeal in crucial scenes. You can watch it once for the excellent camera work, acting of the newcomers, music of Selvaganesh and neat delivery. A great relief from watching the heroic subjects of leading stars and a refreshing change to see pictures which are much closer to reality.