Kudimahaan Movie Review

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Of a plethora of movies that make their way to the screens every year, only few flicks manage to capture the attention of the audience just by their peculiar title. Kudimahaan is one such attention-grabbing title. Kudimahaan is about a middle-aged man who gets pulled into an issue due to a rare medical condition that threatens his job. Actor Vijay Sivan has made his debut in Tamil cinema with his lead role in the flick. Actress Chandini Tamilarasan has played the female lead part. Filmmaker Prakash N has directed the flick. Writer Sree Kumar has written the story of the drama. So, how has the crime thriller drama Kudimahaan come out? Is it solid enough to be a memorable debut for actor Vijay Sivan, and help launch him as a bankable lead hero of Tamil cinema? To know that let us get into the movie review. 

The film follows the life of Mathi (Vijay Sivan), a dedicated family man who works as a cash handler at a private firm that refills cash at bank ATMs. He lives with his wife Pavithra (Chandini Tamilarasan), his two children, and his alcoholic father Sundaram (Suresh Chakravarthy). As Mathi has a meager wage, he does not indulge himself in any bad habits. But he has his weakness. He is a gourmet who cannot resist appetizing foods. Especially junk foods. He consumes them in excess. Naturally, his stomach gets upset frequently with mild pain. Considering the medical expense, he refrains from seeing a doctor. On one occasion, while on duty he gets dizzy, and in that debilitation, by mistake he hoards a bundle of 500-rupee notes in a 100 rupee note cash holder in the ATM machine. He finishes his duty and goes home. 

A crowd gathers outside the ATM as people are getting thousands while only hundreds are being deducted from their accounts. Mathi is informed about it. He immediately rushes to the ATM and wades off the mob. Unfortunately, a huge sum has already been withdrawn. Mathi gets fired. It is then he finally decides to do a health checkup. He visits a doctor who diagnoses that he suffers from a rare ABS syndrome which generates alcohol within the body when there is high intake of carbohydrates. Mathi takes the medical report to his company to persuade them of his innocence. Will Mathi convince his firm of this syndrome and get his job back, and how he repays the bank, is what makes the rest of the flick. 

Certain types of movie titles give away what to expect of its content. Kudimahaan on the face of it might seem like one such title that explicitly makes it clear as to what our expectations should be on the film. But Kudimahaan takes us by surprise with its content. Of course, there are drunkards with their funny antics. But the film is not entirely about them. In fact, it has a teetotaler at its center. The idea that director Prakash N has envisioned to explore in Kudimahaan is fresh and refreshing. Perhaps, the first of its kind. It holds immense space to construct both situational and slapstick comedy. The director to an extent has succeeded in doing them. He takes a lot of time to establish his primary characters and their background. 

He has tried to move the first half with a mix of seriousness and comedy. The condition in which the family is in, and how alcoholism exacerbates it takes a serious tone, whereas Vijay Sivan and Suresh Chakravarthy cover the infrequent comedy part. Storyteller Prakash N lets loose in the second half and turns the drama into a complete comedy entertainer. He brings in three alcoholics to the fore in Namo Narayana, Honest Raj, and GR Kathiravan and lightens up the mood. Their attempt to assist the lead character to get the money back is entertaining. On the negative note, it feels like the director has missed out on turning a juicy plot into a wholesome comedy drama. The film runs out of gags after a point and beyond that it has nothing to serve the audience. 

Relatively for a newbie actor, Vijay Sivan has shouldered his part quite well. But he does struggle in emotive scenes. Actress Chandini Tamilarasan’s character has scope but has not been fleshed out to its potential. Nonetheless, the actress has done her part well. Actor Suresh Chakravarthy is inconsistent with his performance. He does draw chuckles, but is also irksome sporadically. Actor Namo Narayana makes his presence felt even in a next to nothing role. Actor Sethu Raman is effective as usual. Actor GR Kathiravan lives up to the purpose of why he was brought on board. Actor Lovely Anand does justice to his part. Actor Honest Raj is functional. Actor Vijay Anand is adequate. Actor Mani Chandra is operational. Actors Dennis, Eviya Dharani, Arvind Janakiraman, Master Ajay Krishna, and Manoharan have all delivered a decent performance. 

On the technical front, music director Tanuj Menon’s songs are not inspiring. But his background score is in harmony with the funnier and melodramatic tone of the flick. Cinematographer Meyyendiran has done a decent job covering the drama. His angles and color quality add value to the film. Editor Shibu Neel Br to his part has put his scissors to fine work, and has tried his maximum to weed out the flaws in the work of his colleague. 

On the whole, with adjustments in the screenplay and better quips, director Prakash N’s Kudimahaan would have been a much better entertainer.