CUCKOO ("BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL")

March 21, 2014.

Cast: Dinesh, Malavika.

Director: Rajumurugan.

Cuckoo directed by debutante Rajumurugan comes from one of his real life encounters during his stint as a Magazine reporter.

Tamizh (Dinesh) is a blind man who earns his bread mainly as a singer in a music band. He happens to meet Swathanthrakodi, who is also blind, through a common friend. Their brief encounters slowly turns to romance after the initial quarrelling. Finally when they decide to get married, their till then happy life turns awry after Kodi’s brother forcefully arranges her marriage to his friend.

Though there is nothing new in the story as such, the screenplay narration and execution are really good taking the audience right into the lives of the blind couple. Refreshingly it is not the usual tragic love story with a mushy sentimental dialogue in every other scene. Instead it’s filled with situational humor almost all through the film except for the last part.

Still there is plenty of room for improvement; there are a few unnecessary scenes that lengthen the film much beyond what is required and surprisingly there are a lotta melodramatic “coincidences” and “magic” that happens especially towards the end. If not for these two flaws Cuckoo could have easily found it’s place in the list of the greatest Tamil films.

Santhosh Narayanan has once again come up with soulful music and soothing BGM lifting the mood of the film manifold. The supporting cast also puts in a wonderful performance inspite of not being regular actors.

But Cuckoo belongs undoubtedly to it’s lead pair Dinesh and Malavika. The chemistry is crackling and they deliver a lifetime performance which is sure to be nominated for the highest awards in the country. With the brilliant and honest performance they have definitely taken the Tamizh-Kodi story to an altogether different level, much much better than what Rajumurugan must have had in mind.

I am giving a 3.25 for the film and 0.25 for it’s lead pair. Go watch it, you will fall in love.

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.