Ithu Kathirvelan Kadhal – Review

Cast : Udhayanidhi Stalin, Nayanthara, Santhanam, Narein, Saranya, Jaya Prakash, Chaya Singh, Sunder Ramu

Cinematography : Bala Subramaniem

Editing : Don Bosco

Music : Harris Jayaraj

Written & Directed by : SR Prabhakaran

Produced by : Red Giant Movies 

Ithu Kathirvelan Kadhal, the second outing for both Udhayanidhi and SR Prabhakaran, is fairly entertaining and brims with positives on family values. The former’s debut film OK OK was a rib-tickling blockbuster and the latter’s debut film Sundarapandian was a tidy family drama praised by critics. IKK has Nayanthara playing the love interest of Udhay and Santhanam as his sidekick.

The film is so unlike its initial pre-release buzz which assured us antics of Santhanam and Udhay, as usual, to woo fans. IKK has a wafer thin story-line struggling to survive its screen time by riding on plot intertwined between romance and family values. Kathirvelan (Udhay), the protagonist is a staunch loyalist of god Anjaneya and he doesn’t take any oath to be a bachelor forever. Instead, he is passive to beautiful girls until his sister Chaya Singh arrives home due to a tussle with his husband. Aadukalam Naren, one of the most underrated performers in recent times, plays the father role of Udhay and Chaya Singh to perfection. He upholds family values and is a conservative. Udhay decides to sort out the issue of his sister and steps out to Coimbatore to meet his uncle to reunite him with Chaya Singh. Udhay meets Nayan (Pavithra) and falls for her against his will. What happens to the loyalist in Udhay? How will Udhay’s father pay heed to their love? The rest of the story revolves around answering these questions.

Udhay has done many improvising factors in expressing and dance when compared with his earlier. Nayanthara sans glamour, looks angelic and gorgeous, indeed performed well in her boundaries. Santhanam, as Udhay’s friend, does manage to bring the roof down at regular intervals. His quintessential punch-lines are laugh worthy and enjoyable. Saranya as Udhay’s mother and Jayaprakash as Nayan’s father have minimal roles to play and they have done a good job as always. Balasubramaniem, the man behind the camera has done a brilliant work. A scene where Nayan’s image gets reflected on Udhay’s eyes is beautifully shot and worth a mention. No wonder, he is a former associate of PC Sreeram in many of his key films. Harris Jayaraj’s music is passably good with the right mix of songs. Anbae Anbae is picturized so well and one could easily guess the choreographer is Dinesh. And, yes he makes a cameo appearance in the opening song Pallaaku Devadhaiye.

IKK is an underwhelming love story and a fairly good family drama. The film’s story-line is contrary to the title since the love portion in the film has no meat and relies high on the other track. Though the film lags to pack a punch, it’s moderately fair and watchable for the quirky humor of Santhanam and Udhay backed up by good supporting cast.