Movie: Aadama Jaichomada
Director: Badri
Cast: Balaji Venugopal, Karunakaran, Simhaa, Vijayalakshmi, K.S Ravi Kumar, Naren, Chetan, Radha Ravi
Rating: ***
There really isn’t a story in “Aadama Jaichomada” to rave about. It follows a bookie, Dhayalan (Balaji), who plans to buy a bowler ahead of a semi-final match. A special team headed by inspector Bhoominathan (Simhaa) has been assigned the case to closely follow Dhayalan, who would in turn lead them to Albert, a kingpin in cricket betting. The events that happen during the course of the investigation will leave audiences in splits.
“Aadama Jaichomada”, at two hours, which I think is the film’s biggest strength, attempts to be a crime-thriller as well as a sports-based comedy. It only succeeds as the latter, and doesn’t quite do justice to the other genre it forms. But considering how efficiently Badri has used the comedy angle in his story, one shouldn’t mind about this minor flaw.
There’s some creativity in Badri’s attempt to address a controversial subject with refreshingly creative humor. The comedy is born out of situations, one after another neatly woven together as part of the screenplay. Like this scene where Vijayalakshmi, who plays Karuna’s pair, talks about her obsession for living in a house with an attached bathroom because all her life she’s stood in long queues outside a common bathroom. Another scene to watch out for is when K.S Ravi Kumar is narrated the ‘nattamai’ story, which has to be one of the funniest moments in the film. It’s scenes like these that hold the film together and keep us entertained.
Badri uses the comedy genre far too well than several of his counterparts. He does include a few cinematic clichés, like two boring duets, but he delivers a product that’s mostly entertaining and that’s what matters the most.
The director’s last film “Thillu Mullu” may have been a dud because it was an eponymous remake of a cult classic, so it explains why it was not received well. He doesn’t repeat his mistake with his latest film, which despite being based on a controversial subject shows how successfully humor can be used to address a bigger issue without being preachy. Most importantly, neither does Badri blame the sport nor does he take names of any players who were named in the spot fixing.
Karuna is promoted as a lead hero and its best not to get carried away by it. Badri has taken the fact that he plays the lead way too seriously and that’s where he creates a mess. Because he’s the hero, he’s forced to fall in love, woo his girl and sing duets with her. All this unnecessarily creates distraction from the film’s core subject.
It’s Karuna’s show all the way. His talent to make even a serious scene funny is unmatchable. He’s evolving with every film and never do you feel he’s getting repetitive with his roles like many other comedians. Simhaa chips in with an equally funny role. But the surprise package in “Aadama Jaichomada” is K.S Ravi Kumar, a police commissioner who has to deal with two misfit police officers. Scenes between him and Simhaa are the best moments to look forward to.
Despite a weak story, “Aadama Jaichomada” will bowl over the movie buffs
