Review Overview
Performances
Screenplay and Direction
Technical Aspects and BGM
A non-chalant, harmless entertainer!
Radha Mohan has made an appreciable comeback with his latest film Uppu Karuvaadu, which works perfectly as a non-chalant, harmless entertainer and lets the audience walk home with a mirthful experience.
Cast: Karunakaran, Nanditha, MS Bhaskar, Chaams, Sathish & others
Cinematography: Mahesh Muthuswamy
Music: Steve Vatz
Editing: TS Jai
PRO: Suresh Chandra
Art Direction: Kathir
Written & Directed by: Radha Mohan
Produced by: First Copy Pictures
Distribution: Auraa Cinemas
Release Date: 27-11-2015
Run Time: 02:22:00
Director Radha Mohan is synonymous with light-hearted, family entertainers. When he moved out of his comfort zone to handle serious subjects in Payanam and Gauravam, he didn’t receive any overwhelming reception. Now, Radha Mohan has made an appreciable comeback with his latest film Uppu Karuvaadu, which works perfectly as a non-chalant, harmless entertainer and lets the audience walk home with a mirthful experience.
Chandran (Karunakaran), a struggling film-maker waiting for debut opportunity, finally grabs hold of a producer named Jayaraman (MS Bhaskar) – who is willing to fund his film – with the help of his friend Pandian (Mayilsamy). But, Chandran’s opportunity comes at a huge cost. He would need to cast Jayaraman’s daughter Mahalakshmi (Nandita Swetha), who is a complete novice in acting, as his lead heroine. How Chandran makes his film without compromising his vision forms the rest of the plot.
One can unequivocally say that the lion’s share of the film’s success belongs to its dialogue writer Pon Parthiban, who deals even the most awkwardly simple scenes with intrinsic humor and unpretentious lines. The movie, certaintly, takes few minutes to settle down. The initial few moments are shouldered singularly by the ever dependable Mayilsamy, who excels in his role as a production manager and stocks hilarious wisecracks with his trademark histrionics. Even Chams totally lives up to his reputation as a composed comedian and mouths frequent rejoinders. But, the ultimate surprise comes through Nakkamukka Senthil – who plays an assistant director to Chandran – the most unlikely of all characters. Senthil as Stephen Raj is a revelation. He makes you sit up with a dominant performance and leaves you in splits by delivering his lines with a guileless, squeaky clean wit.
With a feeble plotline, limited resources and relatively unsought after cast and crew, what Radha Mohan manages to bring to the fore is admirably excellent. His writing finds umpteen ways to incorporate humor into the screenplay without contrived situations. The length of the film is the only worry and one feels Editor TS Jai could have utilized his scissors and made some pruning to fine-tune the running time.
There are definitely few lags here and there in the second half. The final plot twist, too, might seem a bit formulaic. But, the bright moments churned out by the supporting cast at regular intervals anchor the film whenever it hangs back.
Toting up, Uppu Karuvaadu is an eminently better comedy entertainer than the endlessly flamboyant romantic comedies that rely on booze, glamour, body shaming and women objectification to deliver humor.
Uppu Karuvadu Movie Review Rating: 3/5
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Written by Surendhar MK