Starring: Prasanna, Udhayathara, Vadivelu, Vijayakumar, Rajesh, Santhanam Harrish, Chitra, Rangavasan, Pondy Ravi, Javid Iqbal, Neepa Varshini, Priya, Akila, Ashok, Singamuthu
Direction: G Marimuthu
Music: Dheena
Production: Mohan Radha
Love - it is the elixir of life. Love, they say can move mountains and melt stones. Nothing can stop love and when love is sacrificed for something more sacred, it is still love that wins. For it is love that gives us the strength, and inspires us to do things that our normal selves would not. Love isn’t always about possession or being together-sometimes love also means giving up, parting ways. There have been movies before that have shown love in this light. Kannum Kannum joins that league of rare films that have shown that love can be selfless. A beautifully made, silent love story full of innocence. A whiff of fresh air amidst the rush of popcorn romances.
Prasanna plays an orphan in Chennai who has fought a battle with his cruel fate and emerged successfully as an engineer, ready to take on life. He has a hobby- poetry, and wants to get one of his poems published in a magazine. Much to his surprise he sees his poem in the magazine but under the name of Shenbagavalli. He tracks the origin of the letter all the way to Kuttralam but the poetess' identity is a secret, she had been using a pen name. Prasanna writes letters to 'Shenbagavalli', a simple, chirpy and innocent girl of Kuttralam played by Udhaythara.
The vibes that they shared soon blooms into love, unspoken but understood, silent but strong, more platonic than romantic. As they share their love through letters, destiny brings them closer, within touching distance. And yet the lovers don’t realize it. They loved through letters hoping that some day the gods would unite them for a lifetime. Little did they know that their love was with them, near them, and that time was fast slipping away. As close as they were being brought together by the hands of fate, the farther they were being swept away from their dream of living a life together. When they finally recognize
each other, time has slipped. Destiny has put them in a quandary where they will have to hurt their most beloveds for their love and the decision they have to make is not easy.
The film's message is that love is the most beautiful of all of God's creations, it is meant to spread joy, happiness and smiles. Love that hurts anyone so dear is perhaps not love as love was meant to be. G. Marimuthu, debuting with story, screenplay, dialogue and direction has provided us with one of the cleanest, most honest and endearing love stories of recent times. We can't help feeling sympathetic (a few might feel empathetic) for the young lovers but the director convinces us that the ending could not have been different. The screenplay is disarmingly cute, without any unnecessary intrusions and devoid of unsavory commercial elements. It is love, family and friendship all the way and we can for once declare with confidence that this is how a family movie should be. The dialogues have to be singled out for special appreciation. The technicians too have done their bit convincingly to help the movie on all fronts.
The only let down in the movie is Dheena's music. A more imaginative score could have done wonders to this movie that is already good. Instead, Dheena's score struggles to pass muster. The brilliant lyrics of Vairamuthu seem to have been squandered on some uninspiring composition.
Prasanna continues a busy 2008 with his third release in as many months and after the hit Anjaathey where he played the hateful baddie, getting back to the sweet lover role will be cheered by people who like to watch this simple guy on screen. Udhayathara (who originally began acting with this film but eventually had Thee Nagar releasing first) is really convincing as the bubbly and innocent college-going girl of Kuttralam. The only real commercial element in the movie is the parallel Vadivelu comedy track. Even though completely disconnected from the main plot one cannot help laughing at some of the predicaments he gets himself into. The rest of the cast, which includes Vijayakumar as Udhayathara's father, turn in good performances as well.
Kannum Kannum is a director's movie totally- the effort shows; we can only hope that audience appreciation and the box office outcome is strong enough to match the effort. There have been times when such films have hit the jackpot and times when they have been ignored. The only thing that puzzles us is why it was two years in the making. Perhaps good things take time.
And why haven't we revealed more of the story? Well, it is too good to be on the web. A small, cute and touching love story.
Get ready to have Shriya rolling you in the aisles with laughter – that is what the star feels she is confident of doing with her Hollywood debut, The Other End of the Line. Shriya’s career has skyrocketed with offers pouring in from all the other woods –from Bollywood to Hollywood. Her next Kollywood movie, Kanthaswamy with Vikram is eagerly awaited, as are the roles she will do for internationally acclaimed filmmakers, Deepa Mehta and Meera Nair.
