Kadamayai Sei Movie Review: Hardly a saving grace in SJ Suryah's comedy drama  

It is ironic that for a film about Stupor — the unresponsiveness from which a person can be aroused only by vigorous, physical stimulation — the happenings in Kadamaiyai Sei puts the unsuspecting audience, who were facing the droll of insipid writing, imbecile humour, and substandard execution, through a similar fate.

Directed by Venkatt Ragavan, the SJ Suryah-led comedy-drama is a bouquet of randomness that resorts to a clinical disorder, Stupor, as the driving force.

Director: Venkatt Ragavan

Cast: SJ Suryah, Yaashika Aanand, Motta Rajendran, Vincent Ashokan 

Ashok (Suryah), an unemployed civil engineer, becomes a security guard at a gated community to make ends meet. It is this gated community that is a bone of contention between two brothers (played by Vincent Ashokan and Charles Vinoth), who are looking to usurp the property from each other. Ashok gets wind of a catastrophic plan, and just before he can swoop in to save the lives of many innocent residents of that apartment, a freak accident puts him in a stupor and bedridden.

Parallelly, we are also made aware of Ashok's background story that made a civil engineer take up a job as a security guard, and what were the incidents that lead to the accident. While all of it seems fascinating on paper, there is a lot of exposition that comes in the way of explaining 'stupor' to the audience. The mass and comedic elements are milked from the various attempts at giving Ashok an extreme stimulus to make him hyperactive. If the action blocks scream mass at us, especially with Kathakali music playing as the background score, Suryah's performance in trying to convey his thoughts to the outside world while being in a stuporous state is hilarious.

The makers also try to tick the 'sentiment' box by making Ashok and his wife Aishu (Yaashika Aanand) give us life lessons in the form of punch lines. Take, for instance, the scene where Aishu comes to know that Ashok is working as a security guard. To quell her disbelief, Ashok says, "Azhugaikkum sirippukum romba dhooram illa. Kannukkum vaaikum irukra gap dhaan. Kannu azhudhalum vaai siruchutu potume." Where is that stupor when you need one?

Kadamayai Sei becomes stodgy with silly humour that is arbitrarily sandwiched between the central plotline. Opting for low-hanging fruits, we have scenes like the one where comedy actor Rajendran strikes a racist troll on himself. But, not all is bleak in Kadamaiyai Sei. With his innate charm and zesty screen presence, SJ Suryah gives it all for the film. However, the same can't be said for Yaashika whose dubbing only adds on to the misery of her underperforming in a pivotal role.

While the first half is still bearable, there is hardly any redemption in the haywire second half. The draggy pace, the slow narration, and the predictable climax just make us restless. However, the filmmaker's intention to substantiate the film's title with Ashok's doggedness to be dutiful even at his absolute worst of health is a laudable effort. If only, some better creative choices by the makers were in order, we would not just laud Kadamayai Sei but also enjoy it.