After delivering two back-to-back successful films, Raayan & Kuberaa, in a span of eleven months, Dhanush, came with, Idli Kadai, a rooted rural family drama. Apart from playing the lead role, he also directed the film. Nithya Menen, who delivered a hit film, Thiruchitrambalam, with Dhanush, played the female lead role and Dhanush’s go-to music director, G. V. Prakash Kumar, scored the music for the film. Senior actor, Rajkiran, who played the lead role in Dhanush’s debut film as director, Power Paandi, played a crucial role in Idli Kadai. After getting the release date postponed a couple of times, the film was finally released in theatres in Tamil and Telugu today. Did Dhanush complete a hat-trick of hit films with Idli Kottu? Did Dhanush continue his hit streak as a director? Did Dhanush and Nithya Menen manage to create magic on screen, yet again, after Thiruchitrambalam? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.
What is it about?
Sivanesan (Rajkiran) runs an Idli shop in the small village of Sangarapuram, Tamil Nadu. He believes in doing good deeds for the people in the village wherever possible and leads a content and happy life with his wife, Kasturi(Geetha Kailasam) and son, Murugan(Dhanush). Sivanesan wants his son to stay in the village and continue the family tradition of running the Idli shop but Murugan wants to move to Chennai to pursue his dream of becoming a renowned chef. Did Sivanesan continue running the Idli shop, after Murugan moved to Chennai and then to Bangkok? Why did Sivanesan refuse to attend Murugan’s marriage ceremony with Meera(Shalini Pandey), the daughter of a multi-millionaire, Vishnu Varadhan(Sathyaraj)? Why does Meera’s brother, Ashwin (Arun Vijay), hate Murugan? Why did Murugan decide to call off his marriage with Meera and return to his village? What is Kayal’s(Nithya Menen) relationship with Murugan? Forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Including Dhanush and Nithya Menen, the film had at least eight experienced and seasoned actors but none of them were able to save the poorly written film from sinking. Imagine the quality of the writing, when an experienced actor like, Satharaj, looked lost and clueless in most parts. Rajkiran made his presence felt but again, we have seen it all multiple times in the past.
Technicalities:
G. V. Prakash came up with good songs and background music score, yet again for a Dhanush film. Barring the loud score at times, his music was largely good. Kiran Koushik’s cinematography in a couple of scenes in the second half was good. Other than that, his work in the film was strictly adequate. Prasanna GK’s editing is below par. Particularly in the second half, editing should have been much better.
Positives:
1. Dhanush & Nithya Menen’s Chemistry
2. G. V. Prakash’s Music
Negatives:
1. Beaten To Death Storyline
2. Outdated Direction
3. Predictable Screenplay
Analysis:
In a span of thirteen months, Dhanush released three films in three different genres, which were directed by him. Raayan, was an action drama, Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam, was a romantic comedy and now, Idli Kadai, a rural family drama. The common thing between these films is that the storylines of each of them are very routine and beaten to death. Though, the storylines are routine, Dhanush delivered a decently satisfying output with both Raayan and Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam. The screenplay in both films was partly engaging. But, in Idli Kadai, he took a very routine storyline and blended it with an equally routine screenplay. The basic idea of the film has noble intentions but it was not something new. We have seen it multiple times in the past. People would have called the film ‘outdated’, even if it was released a decade ago. The outdated story was narrated in a painfully boring manner with a very slow pace right from the word go until the climax.
The drama, the dialogues, the conflict point, everything is very predictable. It is no exaggeration to say the audience can predict what is going to happen next in the film and they can also predict the dialogue a character may say in the next scene. Though it is predictable, at least the first half of the film is watchable but the second half of the film completely loses track due to the poor writing and tests the patience of the audience with dragged out sequences one after the other. Imagine a multi-millionaire who invites rich people from across the world for his daughter’s marriage, asking his manager to book flight tickets to travel from Tamilnadu to Bangkok? Isn’t a multimillionaire with businesses across the world, usually owns a chartered flight? The entire film is filled with such outdated writing. It is surprising to see a talented actor and director like, Dhanush, think he can deliver an engaging film in this era with such outdated ideas.
The only saving grace in the film is the chemistry between Dhanush and Nithya Menen. We have seen the seamless chemistry between them in Thiruchitrambalam and yet again in Idli Kadai, they looked good together and were able to provide some relief with their effortless comedy timing and their ability to perform through expressive eyes. Apart from Dhanush and Nithya Menen’s chemistry and decent music by G. V. Prakash, there is nothing much to talk about the film. The outdated storyline and execution, certainly worked against the film and it does not deserve a watch in theatres. It is going to be very difficult for the film to sustain in the theatres even until the first weekend.
Bottomline – Tastless ‘Idli’
Rating – 2/5
