Emotions make films, and films lift up those emotions. But is that enough for a film to work? Sure films can rouse up the audience with sweeping lectures about doing the right thing, with layered arguments that forces the audience to rethink their ideals, and ultimately want them to do better, but the fundamental job is to entertain. And what happens when you sacrifice one thing for another, you get a half-baked product with nothing to hold it together. Lakshmikanthan Kolai Vazhakku is one such film which focuses only on the emotional element of the story, but ignores everything else.
Director: Dayal Padmanabhan
Cast: Vetri, Brigida Saga, Lizzie Antony, Maran
The film opens with a judge who faces a tough judgement and resorts to recalling an old legal novel, by a prisoner facing a death sentence, which argues the ethical validity of the death sentence. While the premise seems intriguing, it is let down by the writing. The first let down is the film’s focus, emotions, which is let down by the setting of its dialogues. With prosaic dialogues which tries to be faithful to the story which is set to 1972, the efforts seem to be reserved for the dialogues alone. For example, a seasoned thief tries to convince the protagonist Arivu (Vetri), about the survivalist reasons for his thieving nature. But instead of a neutral setting, this five minute lecture happens at the place where they are going to thieve from, with the threat of getting caught either forgotten or let go. Such narrow focus results in the impact of the messages being reduced.
Another let down is the structure of the film. Film being an emotional medium, with no restriction on run time, showcasing emotions on screen could have been non-verbal, and conveyed through expressions only. But we are served endless dialogues which explain every emotion of every character. This results in not only reducing the emotional impact of several moments but also underestimating the audience's ability to interpret what they see. Instead of allowing body language or visual storytelling to create a lasting impression, the film constantly spells out everything. This slows the narrative and makes many scenes feel repetitive rather than immersive. As a result, moments that should have felt intimate and powerful come across as staged and artificial. Not only are the dialogues prosaic within the wrong setting, but they also become explainers.
The flimsy writing also results in characters being underwritten and performances being hlaf hearted. Bar Lizzie Antony and Brigida Saga, the latter of whom who has a brief role, the film does not give enough meat for the actors to build their performances, apart from the sweeping lectures that seem to be the only point that the film is made. Vetri as Arivu, tries to hold the emotional and ethical core of the film, but is dragged backed by the verbose nature of the film.
Lakshmikanthan Kolai Vazhakku could have been a proper 'karuthu' padam, but is instead let down by the very calculated nature of the writing.