"Better late than never" - Tamizh Padam, A review

As holidays go, be it a theatre or television, watching a film has become a mandate...

I stumbled up on "Tamizh padam" which was made a year back, but I never got to watch...  A satire on Kollywood movies...

A full length spoof film of Tamil movies made through the past two decades.  Directed by C. S. Amudhan. I just couldn't believe that the film is his maiden one... 

Every cliche in Tamil film starting with female infanticide (but shown in the film as male infanticide ?Karuthappa), Village Head (Naatamai), mother son sentiment, friends sentiments, 'rich girl, poor boy in love' sentiment, underworld Dons and the skinny hero dodging or facing raining bullets, single handed fighting 10 people at the same time and the list goes on...

The director hits at every iconic idols of Kollywood and ridicule the so called masala and punch dialogues. Shiva the hero, is amazing as he delivers even the stupidest dialogues with utmost sincerity. The film is packed with witty dialogues, you have to be really careful and as the Ads say, if you laugh for long you will tend to miss the next laugh waiting for you.

Parts I liked:

1. Ridiculing the usual starting scene shot before Central Station, when the hero/heroine steps in to Chennai for the first time.  I doubt the directors will definitely rethink showing Central station again ever.
2. Hero asking his grandma on how to grow faster, as he wants to fight injustice and his grandma suggesting him to pedal his bicycle faster and as the wheel revolves, he grows faster...
3. Shivaji Parody, on the bribe he had to give and like other superstar movies, taking up all vocations and become filthy rich overnight...
4. Was reminded about Murali, where he acts with Chinni Jayanth as college student.. Mano Bala, Bhaskar and Venniradai moorthy had done their role too well... The so called "youths" are the team behind rip roaring success of the film.
5. Learning Bharathanatyam in a day and dancing before the heroine and try to bring her image in rangoli but ends up with a chimpanzee face, trying to match it with heroine's face kept me laughing for few minutes.
6. The dialogue when the heroine asks her dad to shoot her first before shooting the hero and hiding behind him is ultimate.
7. Aboorva Sagotharargal gimmicks...
8. As every climax turned to an anti climax the "Run" parody, where Shiva tries to stick a small artifical mole on his cheek and not just the villain, the heroine too was not able to recognize is pure unadulterated comedy.
9. The hero suddenly is revealed as an IPS and his love for Khaki drives him to become a watchman after he gets fired... The CM, PM, and Obama's phone calls begging him to take up the police job again.   
10. The court scene where the Judge quotes few film formula and let the hero go free.. Paravai Muniamma, acts amazingly well and her reasoning that she took up the villain job willingly to make her grandson a hero is the stupidest thing anyone would say and the ROTFL moment comes when she wins a golden globe award and she says with such a sincere face, "Ella pugazhum iraivanukae"...

One would either love this movie or hate it... There were times when the movie turned out to be too much of exaggeration, but I've seen my mom watching Prabhu's film and try to hide few tears at his innocence.  

I remembered one of S.Ve. Shekar's plays where he would have ridiculed the China thambi Tamil film. Don't remember the exact quote but it goes like this.... "Kalyanamna ennanu theriyum, mudhal rathiri ennanu theriyum, adhaanala kuzhandhai porakumnum theriyum aana thaali na mattum ennanu theriyavae theriyaadhu.."

Pure entertainment and underlying sympathy that we are made fools of decades old formulas... A good one, I would say, little lengthy perhaps...