It was about 9 in the evening, when I returned from ’’The Archana’’ after yet another disastrous experience in ’’KOVIL’’. Even as I was entering the house my
Anni was giving her eight year boy a spanking ’’ You got 8th rank in Quarterly. You slipped to 11th in Half Yearly. I am not going to let you so easily. Study Now’’. Then I got my sis who was nearly in tears for going 2% low in the Semesters. ’’How easily do we tend to compare a person’s attempt with his previous attempt?’’. Even before I finished the thought my mind started travelling back to KOVIL, and I automatically started comparing ’’SAAMY’’ and ’’KOVIL’’.After the blockbuster SAAMY, all eyes were on Hari’s KOVIL. And when the viewers(headed by your author) got to see the first scene of Kovil, they instantly started drawing comparisons with SAAMY. Once such comparisions are drawn, KOVIL becomes a huge zero. One example, as my fellow passenger cited ’’In theatres, SAAMY recieved atleast a dozen warm uproars from the audience, but in KOVIL its only once and that too - courtesy Rajnikanth’’
Like in SAAMY, the story is not something out of the blue. It is another love story between a Hindu boy & a Christian Girl in the backdrop of a communal clash(This is one thing I hate about Indian Secularism. I mean providing base for such love stories).But KOVIL badly lacks the finesse of performance from the cast and crew that gave us SAAMY.
Speaking about the crew first, the crew was exactly the same as that in SAAMY. Yet they failed to repeat their historic performances. Maybe Golden films are also not repeated. Hari definetely missed the intensity of screenplay which set SAAMY on fire. The screenplay of KOVIL is unpredictably inconsistent and consistently predictable. Dialogues are good at times, but they are only useful in making the things more melodramatic. And as a director, Hari does not live up to the very high standards he set for himself in SAAMY.
Priyan once again does a worthwhile job in KOVIL and has captured the scenic locales of rural Nagercoil wonderfully. It is a surprise that he wasnt given more challenging visuals. Yet the good jobs entrusted upon him was completed in an amiable manner. The same can also be said about Kathir’s art work and Super Subrayan’s stunt. You cannot point a finger of dissatisfaction towards these people.
Considering their expertise and experience, Harris Jeyaraj and V.T.Vijayan should have given us a better fare. It is the first time that Harris Jeyaraj comes up with rural music, and he has done a good job in 3 out of 5 songs. The other two are somewhat mediocre, something Harris Jeyaraj is not known for. All the same, BGMs was fantastic, as were the bit songs. The lyrics of Na.Muthukumar and Snehan are occasionally good, but do not adhere to the mood of the song or its composition. Vijayan too should have avoided the unnecessary cliches in the screenplay and given a more coherent outlook.
The cast of KOVIL was entirely different from that of SAAMY with only one similar person in Rajesh. Off the cast, Simbu has decided(or was forced to) take a break from his style which deprived the critics and his so called fans some excitement. Simbu suits the role of Sakthivel, but will have to gain a lot of inspiration and give a lot of perspiration to perform as Sakthivel. Vikram elevated SAAMY to great heights, while Simbu just ensures that KOVIL is on place. See the difference. Similarly Vadivel(in company of Charlie) irritates you more than making you laugh.And comparing his performance to that of Vivek in SAAMY, both KOVIL and Vadivel appear in poor light.
Sonia Aggarwal does a neat job as the heroine. Nasser, Rekha and Rajesh ride on their experiences and Akaash gives a good account of himself in a negative character. In his little performance, Satyan does an appreciable job. However of all the cast, Rakiran stands out with his effective portrayal as the level headed village leader. It would be wonderful if Rajkiran does roles like these similar to his roles in Nandhaa, Pandavar Bhoomi etc.
KOVIL is an ordinary film that can be viewed once. It may turn out to be a hit in the ’’C’’s, but the ’’A’’s will never give it an entity. KOVIL may be OK, but in the backdrop of SAAMY, it looks pretty blurred. To cut a long review short, there is
’’ no SAAMY in KOVIL ’’ . I meant that the class of SAAMY(and its success too, as future may tell) is not there in KOVIL. You can interpret that literally too, There is no performance worth worshipping in KOVIL.