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What if you get so involved that you forget about the whole theatre ambiance and feel like living inside the story being portrayed onscreen? Director Vetrimaran’s Dhanush-Tapsee starrerAadulakam is such an awesome experience! It’s an honest, realistic attempt to portray the lives of some villagers in rural Madurai, especially youngster Karuppu (Dhanush), whose life turns upside-down when his master himself, in his own words “father figure”, takes the sword against him! Unlike today’s many “raw films” that cater violence with a label of realism, Aadulakam evolves through a different style that is difficult to be adapted in a commercial perspective. It keeps an ample distance from all sorts of hyperboles: well-choreographed stunts, anticipated skin show from its heroine, ‘inevitable’ item numbers that usually comes as hero’s dream, consecutive twist and turns meant to keep the audience ‘engaged’. At the same time, it is not an art film either. Aadulakam lies in-between! It’s a classic example of how a story can be narrated straight with right intensity! Set in the backdrop of Madurai, the film is all about two groups, headed by police officer Ratna Sami (Nareyn) and Pettaikkaaram (Jayabalan), who conduct cock fights (Saaval Sandai) in a remote village. Though Ratna Sami is a dominating figure among cock fighters in terms of money and muscle power and his family used to win trophies in the sports, he could never ever defeat Pettaikkaaram in 30 years. Pettaikkaaram is comparatively poor and his only wealth is a few roosters and assistants like Karuppu (Dhanush) and Dorai (Kishore). Ratna Sami’s only ambition in life is defeat Pettaikkaaram at least once in his life time! Ratna Sami decides to conduct tournament one last time to prove his family dominance in cockfighting and emerge as a winner to fulfill his dying mother’s dream. While both teams are preparing for the cockfighting by picking up the best roosters, Karuppu approaches Pettaikkaaram with his rooster, but his master rejects and asks him to kill it, saying that it is incompetent for fighting. But Karuppu secretly trains it. On the tournament day, his friend Irene (Tapsee) demands Karuppu to return the money he lent from her some time ago and to earn the amount, Karuppu steps into the tournament with his rooster and wins Rs. 3 lakh. Karuppu’s unanticipated success and fame make his master upset and jealous and consequently an enemy! What happens next forms the rest of the film. No doubt, Aadulakam is one of the best films in Dhanush career and his ‘never-seen-before’ performance as a village boy Karuppu is top-notch. The best thing about him is that he can easily be compared to a boy next door or a friend in school days, who is mostly unnoticed among others, but has some typical characteristics that make completely different and memorable! How Karuppu tries to woo an Anglo Indian girl Irene is rib-tickling. Tapsee is apt as Irene. Others in the cast do justice to their respective roles. G.V. Prakash Kumar’s songs, especially ‘Yathe Yathe’ and ‘Ayyayo’ are awesome and they are well –choreographed. Velraj’s cinematography may lack beautiful visuals of foreign locals, but it is one of the major highlights of the film for its gravity of emotions and mood. Well, Aadukalam too has some flaws, which would have been avoided, though not too serious! The cock fight between the roosters of Karuppu and a Mumbai guy just before the intermission is pretty slow and could have been cut short! And the cock fight with graphics seems to be a bit exaggerated as well. Considering the nature of the film, it seems that Aadukalam is for serious moviegoers and it’s yet to be seen how the ordinary viewers take it. Otherwise, Aadukalam is outstanding! |
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