Kottukkaali Movie Review

After making his debut with Koozhangal, PS Vinothraj registered himself as a filmmaker who would be able to bring the reality of ‘small incidents’ to celluloid. And in his sophomore effort in Kottukkaali, the director is able to once again bring in a very simple one liner with a lot of attention to detail and the strength in his dialogues and his narrative.

Kottukkaali has a very simple premise where a woman, who is believed to be possessed, is taken to a priest in a share auto, with ten people accompanying her. And its not just that, because there are a ton of things they carry along, such as their pride, ego, anger, disappointment and much more. PS Vinothraj’s first half is excellently set up with subtle humor, simmering tension and superb filmmaking which drives us to the zone of unpredictability purely by how Vinoth decides to delete music from his imagery, and only use sync sound to propel his proceedings.

The film also largely benefits from the top notch performances of Soori and Anna Ben, who are excellent even though they do not have a palette of emotions to display. Soori in particular, is ‘OH SO GOOD’ in the pre-interval sequence which is easily the best scene in recent times from Tamil cinema. The supporting cast are also superbly set out, not even one looks out of place.

The decision to go ahead without any music is what works in favour of Kottukaali, as there is hardly any predictability in the first half, with comedy, emotions and anger at play.

Kottukkaali is surely the most unique film we have seen in recent times, and it works except for its abrupt ending which could have seen a stronger stand taken by the director. For those looking for a different experience in cinemas, don’t look further.

Kottukkaali Movie Review Rating: 3.75/5