Director: Rajesh Selva
Cast: Vikram, Abi Hassan, Akshara Haasan
The best way to describe ‘Kadaram Kondan’, directed by Rajesh Selva would be as an episode in the life of KK (played by the terrific Chiyaan Vikram). KK is a Malaysian double agent, wanted criminal and also a man of few words. In fact, there were probably more bullets fired from his gun over the course of the film than there were words spoken from his mouth. And this probably best lays out the tone of the film-it’s just all bang bang from the word go!
Shot entirely in Kuala Lumpur, we are introduced to a plethora of characters. There’s the couple Vasu and Aatirah, played by Abi Hassan and Akshara Haasan (both of them really stand out) who are just settling into KL, two teams of police officers (one of them corrupt of course), constantly at loggerheads with each other and also shady members from the Malaysian underworld as well as the corporate dominion who won’t hesitate to cut deals, corners (or throats) to ensure their hegemony. And of course, in the centre of attention, is our protagonist KK. All this, coupled with outstanding cinematography from Srinivas Gutha, does ensure an ‘international’ feel about the film. However, where I felt the film fell short was in the depth of the story. I’m all for bombastic action films and even credit Indian filmmakers who manage to achieve authenticity in this genre with far lesser budgets than their international counterparts. However, what differentiates a good action film from a not so good one is what I call ‘EdgeOfTheSeat’ness! This is self-explanatory and can be achieved only when the central plot and the protagonist’s objectives are tied together in a very personal way. Basically, you need the audience to really root for someone or something in the film. A few examples of this that immediately spring to mind are films like ‘The Bourne Series’, or closer to home, even a film like ‘Thani Oruvan’. Here, the central plot of the film essentially revolves around a sensitive video that is stored in a USB drive. It all unravels rather hurriedly and for one, attains significance only quite late on in the film. Make no mistake, the screenplay in general seems to be pretty well etched out. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Vasu and KK and all the superb situational humour that came with it! But this could have all translated into a great film with sharper focus, more depth and a shorter run time.
‘Kadaram Kondan’ is ultimately not a bad film. It might not be edge of the seat stuff, but it packages sufficient amount of entertainment to keep you engaged at the very least. Vikram is an absolute mountain and stands as tall as the Petronas Towers themselves throughout. He is one actor we just can’t seem to get enough of. And yes, do yourselves a favour and don’t even bother googling his age!
Overall rating: 2.5/5
