R ARIVANANTHAM
As debutant director Anucharan has delivered a superb film, ‘Kirumi,’ which he co-wrote with M Manikandan. Its narration was unusual and novel for the Kollywood. The duo has joined again for the comedy drama ‘Panni Kutty.’ In the land of Thanthai EVR or Periyar, cine media has been taking on the superstitions and the godmen. Right from DMK founder Dr CN Annadurai to Dr Kalaingar M Karunanidhi and Dr MGR have contributed a lot to wipe out superstition among the common men through this effective medium of cinema.
Anucharan’s effort is nothing but the sugar-coated pill to cure the societal maladies.
Utharavathi (Karunakaran, who is down on luck, turns to a seer (a hilarious Dindigul I Leoni), who advises him to steal a bike to change his fortunes. This leads to an accident that involves Varahi, the titular piglet that is also connected to the life of Thittani (Yogi Babu). While Utharavathi and his motley group of friends (Thangadurai, Ramar and Singampuli) want to get hold of Varahi to recreate that accident, Thittani has to safeguard Varahi to ensure his upcoming marriage isn’t jeopardised. This seems like it can make for a delicious comedy of errors, but the film doesn’t try to bring something new. It is a largely safe film, and the lack of novelty in many scenes acts as a deterrent. The earnest performances breathe life into mundane scenes, and the short runtime ensures that we don’t delve too long into any particular sequence.
K’s quirky soundtrack and some enjoyable montage songs contribute a lot to the success of the fim. Both Karunakaran and Yogi Babu’s respective love tracks are dealt with a lot of sensitivity. We often see how the love stories of comedian-turned-heroes are treated with disdain and disrespect. Here, Yogi Babu’s story is rather cute, and it is nice to see this side of the actor without him resorting to shenanigans.
The first song of the film talks about how society and superstition go hand-in-hand. Towards the end, we also see a half-hearted message about the need to believe in ourselves instead of blind superstitions.
It’s a wholesome family entertainer
Yogi Babu, Karunakaran, Dindigul I. Leoni, Singampuli, Ramar, Thangadurai, Bijili Ramesh, Malini Sathappan etc play their roles well
Production : Lyca Productions
Director : Anucharan Murugaiyan
Music Director : Krishna Kumar
