ORU KANNIYUM MOONU KALAVAANIGALUM MOVIE REVIEW

Director Chimbu Devan has made a name for himself for thinking out of the ordinary. Typically, in a film of his, you would expect detailed characterization and a premise that is unique of present trends. Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavanigalum (OKMK) does live up to that label of him being one of the most persistently creative minds in Tamil cinema.

The story of OKMK aims to talk about how every minute can alter one's fate. Chimbu Devan lists out Rashomon, Andha Naal, Run Lola Run and Virumandi as sources of reference material in the end credits. While OKMK does employ similar narrative ideas, the presentation is in typical Chimbu Devan style, with plenty of characters, comedy and quirks.

With such a long cast list where new characters crop up in every scene Chimbu Devan does well to give each of them an identity and more importantly a purpose – like MS Bhasker who appears in an almost negligible role in the early stages but later returns with some hilarious lines, even if it’s only for a brief moment.

Chimbu Devan leaves detailing in his scenes that demand attention from the audiences – this is made apparent after the first round of climax is completed. While he may have a well thought out framework for his characters to exist, the content that he fills his scenes with, offer fulfilling entertainment only in parts, especially when the agenda is to make it a comical joyride. More so when the story unfolds itself thrice, the lack of rip-roaring comedy at regular intervals does little for the engaging factor as it does to add up to the running time of 2.20 hours.

But the potential of Chimbu Devan’s sense of humor is evident in places such as the recurring ‘Pankajam’ gag played out by Delhi Ganesh, and likewise for the Inspector Psycho’s penchant for ‘Siruvar Malar’. But with virtually every character being offered comical lines, the overkill does become obvious.

Arulnithi's career graph continues to rise positively, shaping up his screen presence and emotional connect with the script and the audience with every passing film. Despite being labeled as the hero of the film, the screen space is shared almost equally with Bhagavathi Perumal, who continues his NKPK act with good effect, and Bindu Madhavi who can give herself a pat on the back for not playing a stereotypical heroine.

The seemingly complex idea of OKMK is presented in a rather straightforward fashion for the layperson to understand and the editing work of Raja Mohammed deserves kudos for keeping things as linear as possible. Kathir’s camera movements and framing are creative without being fancy and keep the film and its characters grounded in reality, despite the story featuring several improbable scenarios. The songs are pretty impressive but Nataraj Sankaran is certainly capable of offering more as a composer, especially in the background score department.

In between this slightly madcap comedy Chimbu Devan’s personal ideas on love and the state of medical affairs stick out as unwelcome guests. Nevertheless, the intelligence that this film promises and the core positive message of how we should spend our time fruitfully will undoubtedly be the big takeaways along with the handful of chuckles the characters offer.