Kammapattipadam movie review: The Dulquer Salmaan starrer is a winner thanks to the brilliant performances and slick screenplay!

http://st1.bollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/722402.jpg

This is one of the darkest films for the OK Kanmani actor

Real life is not always a bed of roses. It is often harsh, unfair and very hard hitting. In many ways, Kammatipaadam reflects these same things. It stars Dulquer Salmaan and yet it is rather the story and screenplay which is the winner. Let us see what this bloody crime movie is all about…

What’s it about

Basically, Kammatipaadam is the story of Krishna, played by Dulquer Salmaan. Krishna is a resident of the notorious village which is always famous for its violent incidents. He is thick friends with Ganga. Ganga also has an older brother Bala, who becomes a local gangster of sorts. Both Krishna and Ganga enter the criminal life under the influence of Bala. The two start small then progress to smuggling liquor and even committing murder.

But things take a turn for the worse, when Bala is killed in a car crash. Ganga blames Krishna for his brother’s death. Hoping to regain his best friend’s trust, he finds out those responsible for Bala’s murder and the entire crew plans a sketch to murder the culprit. However, it all goes haywire and Krishna is forced to flee to Mumbai to escape the police. He starts a new life and becomes a security guard. One day he gets a call from Ganga, and during middle of the call the line goes silent and sounds of a loud metallic object fills in. Fearing his friend has been murdered, Krishna goes back to his hometown to find his friend. What he finds instead is a web of lies and deceit. Whether he manages to find his friend and solve the mystery makes up for the rest of the tale.

What’s hot

The story and screenplay are the biggest strong points of the film. The story is dark and rather simple, but when combined with the amazing non linear narration and screenplay, it creates a great experience. You cannot help but get hooked to the story of Krishna, who narrates it from three points of view. One being his past and how became a criminal, the next being the recent events that lead up to him being stabbed and third is his present where he is writhing in pain. The world of Kammattipaadam is very real, where the hero gets beaten up, stabbed, kicked, almost everything you can imagine. In terms of performances, actors Manikandan and Vinayak,who play Bala and Ganga who really steal the show. Brutal, savage and full of energy, these two are the life of the film. Sorry Dulquer, you were good but you got outdone, although that is not exactly a bad thing. It makes Kammattipaadam that much more real, because when it comes down to it, Dulquer is just a bystander who watches events unfold, just like most of us are in truth. Also, the action scenes are very down to earth and well choreographed. It almost looks like people are fighting for real instead of one man hitting ten people. So, overall a sense of realism and brilliant performances are the true strength of Kammattipaadam.

What’s not

The one and only drawback of the film is the super lengthy runtime. Three hours is way too long for a rather straightforward story. The film could have easily driven its point across in two hours or two and a half hours at max. Another drawback, if it may considered so, is that it is too raw, savage and rustic to appeal to the multiplex audience. Let us hope that the city folk do welcome this film.

What to do

Definitely the film to catch this week. Watch it for a twisted, brooding Dulquer and absolutely brilliant Manikandan and Vinayak. But make sure that you are really stocked up on patience, because you will need a lot of it to sit through the three hour long film.

Our rating

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Reviewed by H Shivkumar

* Poor

** Average

*** Good

**** Very good

“)}}(“datalayer”,”z5fd825ff-632c-4bf4-9b36-6e4cc3597ca1″,true, 1 , 1);

***** Excellent