Koothan Review: This dance film disappoints without missing a beat

Koothan Review: This dance film disappoints without missing a beat

The film could have been made out of the mould of movies like Kodambakkam or even Azhagiya Theeye, but by opting to go for the Step Up route, Koothan falters one step at a time
Rating:(1.5 / 5)

A group of dancers practise in a warehouse in their residential area. They are a self-taught, passionate group of dancers. Due to a series of unfortunate situations, this warehouse comes under the hammer and the gang is left with precious little time to pool in the cash to retrieve it. They join a dance competition that offers enough prize money to buy their warehouse back. Along the way, the 'villain' dance group poaches their best dancers, tries to sabotage their dance group etc... This was Step Up 3. Problem is, this is also Koothan. Replace the warehouse with a residential colony filled with junior artistes and backup dancers, and you have AL Venky's directorial debut. 

Cast: Rajkumar, Srijitha Ghosh, Urvashi, Nagendra Prasad
Director: Venky AL

The storyline isn't really the film's biggest problem. Dance films do have a common template (A big shout out to choreographer-turned-director Remo's films). However, it is the amateurishness of the filmmaking, the bizarre editing, and the surprisingly sub-standard dancing that is Koothan's undoing. 

Koothan is in effect a showreel of sorts for Rajkumar to prove he is a find. But it doesn't make sense that in one of the rounds of the Asian Dance Championship (ADC), the Battery Boys (because they are always charged up!) walk on to the stage, and we get transported to a lush green field where the hero is dancing for a folk number along with a group of backup dancers. Once the song gets over, we are brought back to the dance stage and see judges giving them a standing ovation. Why not show them performing on stage? If this is how you treat this 'serious' dance competition, how can you expect the audience to be invested?

In an earlier local dance-offs, you see Raana and the Battery Boys performing, with a girl, Dimple (Sonal Singh), whose dancing is completely out of sync. They come third. The heroine Srilakshmi (Srijitha Ghosh) whose dance too is out of sync, in places,  comes second. At least the antagonist Krishna (Nagendra Prasad) and his dance academy, who come first, justify their win by accepting that it was money and influence that played a part.

The heroine and her sister Devi (Kira Narayanan) hate Krishna. The director tries to emphasise the importance for this hatred by using a quick-cut, fast-forwarded, blurry take on the events in at least three places in the first half before settling down 70 minutes into the film to give us the reason in actual time. This revelation scene is supposed to be important, but I was more invested in Srilakshmi's jhumka. The right earring had one less pearl than the left. It’s how disconnected I felt, given Koothan moves from one scene to another with mostly no interest about these artistes.

The film is also filled with unnecessary asides including a tasteless marital rape joke involving K Bhagyaraj and a love triangle that is solely conjured up for bringing the 'Oh-I-have-two-girls-in-love-with-me' song for the hero.  However, it isn't all bleak. The film does have its occasional moment. Urvashi, who plays Raana's mother Kalaiyarasi, is part of a comedy sidetrack that mostly works. Among the dancers, Devi is impressive and so is the heroine's friend, Apoorva (Ashmini Balasubramanian). The music by Balz G is competent, and Nagendra brings a different dimension to his acting skills. Kira as Devi delivers a consistent performance, but is relegated to hero glorification by having to indulge in unconvincing praise over his dancing promise. 

In the final showdown that sees Raana have a dance-off with Krishna, the hero is shown only in close-up shots. The filmmaker resorts to focussing on his legs while he is dancing and uses wide-angle shots for the complicated dance moves where you aren’t really sure if it is Raana who is really dancing. With a backdrop of junior artistes, Koothan should perhaps have been conceived along the lines of Kodambakkam or even Azhagiya Theeye, but by opting to go for the Step Up route, it turns into a poor excuse for a launchpad. 

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