Panni Kutty Movie Review

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Panni Kutty is about an unlucky young man who must find a piglet and run over it to win back luck in his life, but the problem is, the piglet is safeguarded by another man who has to keep it safe in order to get married. Actor Karunakaran who was last seen in a comedian role in the horror comedy drama Kaatteri is back on screens with a lead part in the comedy film Panni Kutty. Actor Yogi Babu played the second hero of Panni Kutty. Director Anucharan Murugaiyan of Kuttrame Thandanai fame has helmed the drama. Writer Teejay has penned the story for the entertainer. So, how has the comedy flick Panni Kutty come out? Will it bring back actors Yogi babu and Karunakaran to the winning ways and catapult them as bankable lead artists in Tamil cinema? To know that let us get into the movie review. 

Panni Kutty revolves around Uthravathi (Karunakaran), a hapless young man with zero luck in life. He has to put up with his alcoholic father Periya Karuppu (T. P. Gajendran) and deals with his sister Nilavathi (Shathiga Banu), who is always in a bitter mood because of her bad marriage. Vexed of life he takes a drastic decision and goes to commit suicide. His bad luck he cannot succeed even in it. And this sort of becomes his hobby. His mother who is aware of his suicidal thoughts does not even flinch. This sends Uthravathi even further down the existential path of life. He sees a ray of hope in Kaveri (Lakshmi Priya), who runs a small eatery in the town. But to his bad luck she does not reciprocate his feelings, and he keeps coming with different gimmicks to win her over. Seeing his bad luck, his friend Brunei (Ramar) takes him to a fortune teller (Dindigul Leoni). 

The fortune teller tells him to rob a two-wheeler vehicle to get over his bad luck. In the despair that he is in, Uthravathi decides to steal a vehicle. To his surprise, after stealing it he gets lucky and things begin to move well for him. But his happiness is short lived when a piglet runs him into an accident. His luck goes away. He once again visits the soothsayer who advises him to get hold of the piglet and run him over again to get his luck back. Uthravathi takes his advice and sets up on the mission ‘find piglet’ with his gang of friends. But there is a catch. The piglet is under the defense of Thittani (Yogi Babu), who has to ensure that the piglet is safe in order to get married. Will Uthravathi manage to steal the piglet and run him over, or will Thittani be vigilant and safeguard the piglet and get married, and how are Uthravathi and Thittani going to solve this impasse, is what makes the rest of the flick. 

Panni Kutty is a surprising product from director Anucharan Murugaiyan given his serious debut drama Kirumi. For some reasons he has opted to go for a lighthearted comical film. Panni Kutty is not the kind of film to go looking for logic and reason. In fact, it helps if we turn off the analytical facet of our brain before we get in to watch Panni Kutty. The film makes for a good comedy treat on paper with its one-line, engendering hopes. Director Anucharan Murugaiyan does entertain us with his execution here and there. But as a whole product the film does not have enough stream to hold the attention of the audience for a run time of two hours. The main issue with Panni Kutty is, that substantial quotient of its jokes does not land. Not just that, it is hard to stomach them as comedies in the first place. 

All that said, it is not fair to write off Panni Kutty without mentioning its entertaining façade. Director Anucharan Murugaiyan seems to have a knack for writing situational comedies. The opening scene where the protagonist Uthravathi tries to commit suicide, and portions where both the protagonists trying to deal with the piglet are well exploited to draw out entertaining quips. Perhaps, if film maker Anucharan Murugaiyan had put in little effort in staging situations like these and worked on the quirky jokes, Panni Kutty would have offered us better entertainment. Instead, he turns his focus to thrust in the mandatory social message that films must have in Tamil cinema. So, as the film unfolds it questions the superstitious beliefs that are prevalent in the society and urges us to bank on ourselves rather than on these type of practices.  

Actor Karunakaran tries too hard to shoulder the film and push it across the line. Unfortunately, he himself falls short with his performance at times adding to the film’s deadweight. Actor Yogi Babu is inconsistent yet offers the much necessary breathing space. Actress Lakshmi Priya lives up to her part. Actress Shathiga Banu is adequate. Actress Ashna Sudheer is effective. Comedians Ramar, Singampuli, Tiger Thangadurai, T. P. Gajendran, and Dindigul I Leoni do not serve the purpose as to why they were roped in. The rest of the cast has delivered what was asked of them. 

On the technical front, music director Krishna Kumar’s tracks are not inspiring. But he adds value to the film with his background score. Cinematographer Sathish Murugan’s visuals are middling. His frames should have been better. Film maker Anucharan Murugaiyan himself has edited the film. He has done a fine job trimming the movie. 

On the whole, director Anucharan Murugaiyan had a potential script in Panni Kutty but squandered it due to his insipid writing and of his distraction in embedding the movie with a message to send off the audience.