Film: Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga Director: Pandiraj
Cast: Vimal, Sivakarthikeyan, Bindu Madhavi, Regina Cassandra, Delhi Ganesh and Parota Soori
Rating: ***What you get to see in Pandiraj's "Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga" (KBKR) is not out-of-the-box, intelligent or not even inspiring, but just plain entertainment that will make you leave the cinema hall with a sigh of relief, even when you know the plot is inundated with loopholes and unignorable cliches.
Despite glaring flaws, KBKR manages to entertain because of the refreshing presentation of a story done to death in Tamil cinema.
We take a peek into the lives of three wastrels - Kesavan (Vimal), Pattai Murugan (Sivakarthikeyan) and Sindru (Soori), living life without any ambition. While Kesavan and Murugan aspire of a career in politics and, therefore, spend most of their time in the service of a local politician, Sindru, their best friend, unemployed and married, hopes to make ends meet by not even moving a muscle.
At home, Kesavan and Murugan are always mistreated by their parents for not being responsible and shamelessly staying dependent on them. Nothing seems to affect them, though.
How do these wastrels turn responsible and realise the importance of time and life? This forms the rest of the story.
The film absolutely doesn't boast of a storyline, as most of it is merely about friendship and how certain events trigger off the responsible side of the protagonists. Known for his ability to blend humour into his narrative, which in this film's case is witty one-liners, director Pandiraj makes this film nothing less than a delightful watch. Even though the wastrels are disobedient and extremely lazy, they embrace life with a hint of optimism, which I think is rarely found in such characters.
As parents, all of Pandiraj's characters speak with razor sharp sarcasm that paves way to some comical moments in most conversations with their sons. Most of these scenes are entertaining, yet they leave an afterthought.
While most characters in this film seem like any character from a story revolving around members of a below middle class family from a small town, I personally feel that each character has been sketched with a purpose. For instance, Kesavan and Murugan's plan of getting into politics only to enjoy the perks and luxuries attached with the position, but not with a purpose. This is proof to how hundreds of youngsters nowadays aspire to get into politics for all wrong reasons.
Sindru's character reminds us of several such irresponsible husbands who prey on their in-laws for a living and even have the gall to procreate even when employed.
Likewise, the scene where Mithra beats the living hell out of Kesavan might be funny and stupid for many, but very few may have understood the fact that Pandiraj tries to prove that women should learn to defend themselves.
The performance by the actors is decent, but the overall performance keeps the film entertaining and away from boredom. Pandiraj drives home a thought about the importance and purpose of parents in our lives. This may have been achieved through the most melodramatic fashion, but it is worth it. Yuvan's music is passable while his background score becomes repetitive after a point of time.
If you know Pandiraj's style of filmmaking, then "Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga" will definitely not disappoint you.
