Written by S Subhakeerthana | Chennai | Updated: November 16, 2018 11:07:11 pm
Kaatrin Mozhi movie review: Jyotika pulls off Vijayalakshmi effortlessly.
Kaatrin Mozhi movie cast: Jyotika, Vidharth, Lakshmi Manchu
Kaatrin Mozhi movie director: Radha Mohan
Kaatrin Mozhi movie rating: 3.5 stars
Vidya Balans Tumhari Sulu was released last year around the same time. And now we have Jyotikas Kaatrin Mozhi. Though the latter is an official remake of the former, you cant compare both the films. Jyotika has made Kaatrin Mozhi entirely hers. The story revolves around the life of Vijayalakshmi Balakrishnan aka Viji (Jyotika), a cheerful-doting homemaker, and how she pursues her dream of becoming a Radio Jockey.
Viji is bubbly, chatty and optimistic. At the same time, she is someone who dreams big. In the initial scenes, she tells her husband Balakrishnan (Vidharth), “Perusa think pannu, Balu.” She faces flak from her twin sisters and father because she tries her hand at different things and fails. Often, they humiliate her for not completing class 12 — but those things dont seem to deter her spirit. After a few seconds, she is back to her happy self.
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Viji has a supportive husband and a son. For instance, Vijis husband encourages her when she secures second place in the lemon-and-spoon competition. He, in fact, says, “Never. Ever. Give up.” (Ajiths lines from Vivegam) when shes all set for the game. Once its over, he clicks pictures of Viji and celebrates her success.
Theres this bedroom scene — where Viji asks Balu to press her feet. All these things make you feel like home — something that you witness in your neighbourhood.
I quite liked those scenes where she has conversations with the pigeon (Bhagyalakshmi) that flutters to her balcony. She says, “Unakellam sonna puriyaadhu. Adutha jenmathula nee ponnavum, naa puraavagavum porakkanum!”
Another interesting aspect is the realistic portrayal of the husband and wife in the film. Vidharth is somewhat convincing, but I feel he doesnt match up to Manav Kaul (who was fantastic in the original).
So, Viji takes up her dream job and hosts a late-night talk show at the radio station. Eventually, she develops an inimitable way of running the programme successfully — which results in the usual clichés — the fear of neglecting her son, unable to understand the insecure husband and so on.
Lakshmi Manchu (Maria) plays a no-nonsense radio station head and is impressive. Watch out for scenes that involve Viji and Maria – they are filled with warmth.
Kaatrin Mozhi has new scenes and characters that werent in Tumhari Sulu. Of course, Kaatrin Mozhi isnt a perfect film — it has flaws, a couple of size-ist jokes, but works largely because of Jyotika, the screenplay and writing. Radha Mohan knows what works, what doesnt and has packaged the film neatly with supporting characters — Elango Kumaravel, MS Bhaskar, Manobala, Uma Padmanabhan and Mayilsamy. Some of the scenes took me back to the Mozhi days. It could be because of the apartment-milieu. Jyotika pulls off Vijayalakshmi effortlessly. There are no pretensions; I guess that is what has endeared her to the audience. And hey, AH Kaashif has also made a promising debut as a music director!
Simbu and Yogi Babu make special appearances in the film though they dont contribute much to the plot. It would have been nice if the makers hadnt revealed this before the release. Sigh.
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