Breaking the Image of the Hero.

 

   The hero is always some one special in the world of cinema.Tamil cinema has mostly afforded a glorious position to the role of heroes and the actors who played as heroes.From the days of M.K.T.Baghavadhar,MGR and Sivaji Ganesan heroes of Tamil cinema have been demi gods.It was Rajinikanth who first broke this concept by doing unconventional roles.But even he was forced to talk punch dialogues to attain the status of  a superstar. Later Bagyaraj Pathiban and Pandiarajan resorted to self caricature in hero roles and drew the attention of the audience.Now a days it is the turn of Vijay Sethupadhi, to shatter the image of the hero through trendy twists and humorous U turns in donning the role as a hero.
   Sethupathi's latest venture in this direction is the recent release Kaadhalum Kadandhu Pogum.The story base which revolves around romance and criminality is nothing new.But the narration is quite refreshing and newly imaginative with situations getting the audience into the groove of a fresh romantic tale with a man and woman boozing together .It is an attitude of nonchalance that makes the hero and his woman involve themselves in unconventional activities generating spot humor here and there quite unexpectedly.Whether the hero is a cowardly thug or a humane rowdy he himself does not know.But his anger is as much spontaneous as his concern for the woman whose company he crudely cherishes.Nor is the woman's love for him free from periodical bouts of contempt for him.
    While the hero's routine fluctuates between crime and romance the woman gets pulled between her career and romance.Nothing is serious here be it the romance or the crime routine.Nothing clings to our memory because the story is not even ankle deep.The hero, the guy who grooms or uses him and the villain whose motives of villainy are not well drawn are all like passing clouds as far as the crime segment is concerned.But the romance is much more than knee deep because the hero goes to the extent of playing mad to facilitate his woman to clear her interview and get her job.The woman is not a time server but like the Eskimos who would hug their dog,she  keeps herself deeply rooted to the man who did the unusual to help her greatly employed.
      Imagine how tough it is to keep the audience enjoyably engaged for a couple of hours, without either a comedy sub plot or a comedian to create quality laughter .Nalan Kumarasamy does the hat trick with the extraordinarily agile support of a unique Sethupathi and an equally nimble and enchanting Madonna Sabastian.That too without a story.It is all because of an actor, who refuses to be the hero from the days of Naduvila Konjam Pakkatha Kanom till today.It is also because of the new wave musical core that grabs our imagination through songs and the background score.But I am afraid, one day the same Sethupathi will also change track and fall in line with those who are climbing fast on the image ladder.