Kaidhi - movie review

Been a really long while since a movie came in tamil, that truly stuck to its genre, without any compromise. Kaidhi belongs to that unique set of movies. Right from word go, within first 20 minutes of the movie, the base is set and the directions in which the story is going to flow and how it is all going to converge. Probably the most tightly packed initial half hour ever witnessed in a tamil movie in recent times. But again, for those seeing the movie for the first time, pretty sure there are going to be repeat audiences for this movie, it may be confusing a bit. But since the events are riveting, it helps to an extent. Karthi looks like the modern avatar of where he left from Aairathil Oruvan. His introduction scene is quiet, but his presence has a looming sense of things to follow. The way he eats the biriyani on a taambaalam of a plate reminds of Raj kiran. Naren as the upright, hand in sling inspector, has only one emotion to convey in that limited span of 4 hours that all events takes place. He has to look determined and helpless at the same time, counting on a prisoner to save the day, rather the night. With almost no room for comedy, little bit of quirky one liners from dheena are the best that could muster some laughs. To me the best surprise of the pack was, the constable character, who is given the best mass scene portions of the movie, if not on par with the hero. He is always shown as a comedian and conceiving such a scene for him definitely was a twist and worth applauding. The 4 college kids who gets trapped in the police station sound the most fake of the lot, even faker than those zombie apocalypse inspired attack on the police station building by never ending stream of henchmen. Of the 3 main villains, 2 are so and so only. The menace is created and felt more by the situation than by the characters themselves, which adds up to the goosebumps. The third villain, still left standing, probably was a prompt for a sequel/prequel in the making may be, depended on how this version is received. The final flourish of using a automatic machine gun, despite being the most out of place in the setup makes up with its mass appeal and reminds of a similar famous scene from scarface. The dare with which the perps spike the drinks of the entire police department assembled for that event, the number of shady and double crossers on each side, the ease with which the hero bundles out scores and scores of villains despite being grievously injured and some other illogical scenes apart, the movie is literally fast, racing from start to finish. A kollywood version of a video game one may say.

Gils verdict – I love die hard series, especially the first three parts. This movie felt like Die hard in tamil. Hope they make it as a series and each lives up to this version. Piasa vasool for sure.