INJI IDUPPAZHAGI MOVIE REVIEW

The pressure that youngsters, particularly women, face to shed excess fat from their bodies, in order to look desirable to the opposite sex and become eligible for marriage is the core idea of Inji Iduppazhagi. The messages that the film intends to convey are 'accept yourself the way you are', 'avoid shortcuts to shed weight' and 'stay fit the healthy way'.

 

We all know that the film features Anushka as its protagonist and first of all, lets tip our hat to this gorgeous woman for daring to put on weight. There is some help from her costumes to make her look unflattering but the fact that she has put on weight is evident. She shines as a performer in the scenes when she rejects wedding proposals confidently and also while yearning for true love and romance. But, the film doesn't do justice to its motives and also Anushka's dedication, mainly due to its treatment. 

 

After a fairly decent first half which has some good moments, the second half nosedives and becomes too artificial to engage the viewer. The film loses out on Tamil nativity mainly due to the presence of many Telugu actors and with obvious lip sync issues while dubbing Tamil over some of the Telugu lines. The dialogues are mostly the filmy kind and the odd line does stand out, like the moment when Anushka comments that it took her until Bhogi to get out of her tight Diwali attire.

 

Urvashi as Anushka's mother is her usual uninhibited self and her appearance in the climax gives the film a nice lighthearted finale. She plays a typical Indian middle-class mom who wants to see her daughter settle with a good groom through an arranged marriage. She pushes her girl to lose weight and sees excess fat as a big impediment to her wedding prospects. 

 

The film features some insensitive scenes which derogate fat people. With all its good intentions, such diametrically opposite melodramatic scenes could have been avoided. The way media has been used to move the film ahead in the second half, further pulls down the proceedings and needless songs add to the slowness.

 

Arya plays a documentary filmmaker and enacts his real life fit self on screen too. He looks super-handsome and desirable to the girls. The film doesn't require any performance exertion from the actor and he waltzes through. His chemistry with Anushka is as always refreshing. The actor warrants appreciation for accepting such stories where the female lead role is much more prominent. 

 

Sonal Chauhan has a fabulous frame which she flaunts elegantly and she is part of a love triangle to add more spice to the relationship aspect of the film. Baahubali fame Adivi Sesh does Sonal's part in the male side. Master Bharath, a popular child actor, is a well-groomed young man now and he is a promising addition to the list of comedy actors. But some of the jokes and visuals fall in the 'adult' territory. Prakash Raj gets a showy part as a businessman and it is a piece of cake for the veteran.

 

None of the songs stay on, except the little 'Inji Iduppazhagi' tribute in the end and the background score is on the dramatic side, most often. Nirav Shah takes care of the visuals and his work complements the gloss interiors and grand work on the set design. The extensive VFX work in a part of the film is tacky and the numerous star cameos just pass by in a flash like ads. The run time of just over 2 hours feels like a stretch mainly due to the second half.

 

Inji iduppazhagi is that kind of film which doesn't live up to its immense promise on paper. Anushka has given her heart and soul to the film and charms us totally, but many other aspects of the film don't tick.