What makes a film unconventional?
Though the answers to this query are aplenty, it is quite possible that the first answer off the top of an average moviegoer's head is — a story line or a storytelling pattern that doesn’t fit the norm.
Kazhugu 2 does not fit that bill. But the film still manages to remain unconventional in the commercial space of Tamil cinema.
Here are two reasons why: a) Credit to Raja Bhattacharjee’s camera work, (and to the location scout) for you are transported to this world where you’ve always dreamt of spending a summer retreat. The story unfolds right in the middle of the lush forests of the Western Ghats. The hut where Johnny (Krishna) and Kaali (Kaali Venkat) stay, by the side of a gushing freshwater stream, is the stuff of fantasy. A particular shot during a song, which is set in a misty backdrop before dusk hits, was memorable.
b) The item song is placed right at the beginning of the film! There really is nothing much to point out in what is a generic story, although Krishna appears a natural fit to play the character of Johnny.
- Language: Tamil
- Director: Sathyashivaa S.
- Cast: Krishna, Bindu Madhavi, Kaali Venkat, M.S. Bhaskar, Hareesh Peradi
- Storyline: Two thieves are hired to protect a group of forest cutters in the Kodaikanal hills. But their lives are in jeopardy after foiling a greedy politician’s plan.
Johnny and Kaali are two thieves from Theni, the area is only name-dropped for the sake of variety, similar to the casual use of wild dogs. The opening sequence shows a group of workers, mostly women who trek to the forest to cut down trees, being mauled to death by wild dogs.
The presence of these dogs is pegged as a reason to bring Johnny and Kaali to Kodaikanal as security for workers in the forest, though they have never fired a rifle in their lives before. There is another sequence to establish the male lead’s heroism, when he overcomes his fear and kills a wild dog with one swing of his misfiring rifle in order to save the girl.
After that, the dogs go into hibernation, and so do the rest of the audience till the end of the film.
The second half deals with a completely different plot. A greedy MLA (Hareesh Peradi) is thrown into the mix, and he accidentally unearths a piece of archaeological wealth.
Johnny, who is adept at picking locks (he reads the lock design in Kaththi Vijay style, watch out), foils the politician’s plan and steals the loot from him. Even as we are led to believe that perhaps the conclusion of this second story arc could lead to the film’s finale, we’re hit with another twist — Kazhugu 2 was all along a love story! A tragic one, in fact.
Sathyashivaa’s obvious mistake is in not remaining faithful to one story arc. There seems to be a new trend emerging in the commercial Tamil cinema space where filmmakers are shoving one too many plot lines into a single film. The result? You’re given an uncouth masala film!
Without spoiling the film for eagle-eyed viewers, here are two instances where the open-ended screenplay torpedoes the film’s ethos — Merly (Bindu Madhavi) figures out that Johnny and Kali are conmen, and have no actual rifle shooting skills early on in the film. But she doesn’t out them, though she has no love interest on Johnny at that point, despite the fact that their presence was endangering the lives of other workers.
Secondly, M.S. Bhaskar is thrust into the screenplay at a crucial point of the film, when no one would expect for him to be there. A twist in a plot is something that ought to be backed up by strong writing. Here though, it appears as if the filmmaker needed a character to show up, and Bhaskar was the only one on the set at that point in time. So, he shows up.
Reading between the lines, however, it is clear that the concepts of friendship, love, greed, passion, hate and revenge are all handled in this single subject. The question is... was it necessary to package so many human emotions into one bundle?
