BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

What is the biggest lie? When you see a 100 days poster of a movie saying "Vetri nadai podugiradhu", there, you would also expect a disclaimer saying, pun intended. Just the initial few weeks' collections are the deciding factor for movies and anything more to it is the producer's fortune with his/her zodiac sign. After Thuppakki, more than everybody else, Vijay and Murugadoss themselves wanted to prove the worth of their combo, again. After Thalaivaa and Jilla, it was time for Vijay to break the average category and transcend.

 

Murugadoss will always be the ideal choice for Vijay, since Vijay's non-profitable and altruistic motives off screen can be ideally positioned on screen catering to his fans and of course the regular film goers. The petite director is pretty much the opposite when the numbers and days at box-office are brought into consideration. Murugadoss can spell a magical wand over a story and make it bigger and better. He is known for his socially sensitive messages narrated with 5 songs and all the other needs of a commercial movie. Ever since Kaththi was announced, before the film could even release, all that the buffs had was to compare it with the earlier outing, Thuppakki. The very ordinary first look poster was followed by an effervescent teaser. Anti-Vijay fans made it a point that the seriousness the Kaththi team intended through the pipe sequence got trolled for all possible jokes.

 

Vijay and his releases are like South Africa in the Cricket World Cup. After a series of hiccups and issues, Kaththi made it to the theatres. Till the last minute, there were speculations about the film's release. People had no clue if tickets were to be bought or to wait after the understanding between the court and the producers settle down. By the grace of God and few judges, the film released.

 

Even the trailer brought second thoughts about the movie's prospects. Even after the movie got released, the first 20 minutes brought in immediate reviews. What happened next? Where did Kaththi go? How sharp was it? Was it a cut-throat action-drama? Did the magic repeat? Thanks to Anirudh's songs, Vijay's charisma and the history behind the combination, the film got all the attention and the inevitable houseful shows happened. What happens when a director like Murugadoss, who can count the pulse of the audience with eyes closed and a mass hero like Vijay combine to tell a story that needs all the attention? How can the plight of farmers, senior citizens and water issues be addressed to the all center audience? Kaththi tells you how it's done. Kaththi entertains, creates awareness, instigates thoughtful insights and of course stirs your irrational heart.

 

Apart from the dedicated followers of Vijay, the film made universal sense to all sorts of audience. With all the contemplated plagiarism, the less exciting first 20 minutes, the logic behind somebody sitting inside such huge pipes for hours and still receiving mobile signals to talk, the very bad morphing of Jeeva during the climax fight, minimal portions for Samantha, Sathish called by two different names, Samantha not knowing that Vijay was taking care of the old-age home and objectifying Jeeva as a weakling in spite of being a staunch revolutionist, everything was forgotten, because Kaththi had lot more exciting factors to be noticed. The film was praised for Vijay's performance as a con and a subtle socialist. Anirudh's BGM elevated the scenes. George and Ilayaraja's strokes gave the gloss and originality. Neil's dubbing brought in the authenticity the villain has to bear.

 

The senior artists were equally cute and also evoked sympathy. The brilliant dialogues, the fight with the foreign girls, the still trending interval block, amazingly conceptualized coin fight, the riveting press meet and the non-verbal communication between the Vijays in the climax are noteworthy highlights. Enough has been said on Kaththi, but what made Kaththi the indisputable winner of 2014? What made Kaththi gross over 100 crores worldwide with just its Tamil version alone? What brought audience again and again to theatres to get butchered by thoughts with the Kaththi? How did the love for Vijay get testified?

 

Kaththi brings laughter, makes you come to the tip of the seat, puts a gentle smile on your face, makes you think, makes you wonder, makes you hoot, makes you sit back and enjoy, makes you burst in tears, irritates you with blatant truth, makes you dance and finally gives you a take away. Kaththi is a complete film. Kaththi is a fight for justice. Kaththi logically reasons, questions your wisdom, proves you wrong and finally satisfies you.

 

99 days of Kaththi has been razor-sharp.

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