Kuselan is a very ordinary movie with a simple story. The Story as most people already know is loosely based on the story of Friendship between Sudama and Krishna in Mahabharatha. A poor Barber played by Pasupathi is the friend of the Superstar Rajinikanth during the young days and how they meet later in life is the essence of the story. There are no surprises in the movie. The film is an enjoyable family entertainer filled with comedy and emotions, other than that it is hard to categorize it as a Rajinikanth film.
Rajinikanth plays the role of a humble superstar and brings out the actor in himself very well. P.Vasu mixes boiled rice with Sambar, Rasam, Curd, Poriyal, Aviyal, Appalam and Ghee and serves it in a golden platter. The Golden Platter being none other than the Superstar himself.
Pros:
1. A Simple story. Because people need not come to the theatre wondering what the story is like, search for hidden meanings or anything of that sort. Sometimes keeping the story very simple helps a lot to enjoy the other aspects of the movie rather than trying hard to understand the movie itself.
2. Comedy. With a team of actors like Vadivelu (who spearheads the comedy track), Santhanam, Livingstone, Santhana barathy the movie is actually filled with comedy for the most part. Vadivelu is enjoyable as Pasupathi’s competing hair-dresser. His attempts to meet the superstar is the highlight of the comedy track and he has performed well. Watch out for Santhana Barathy in his adiyal get up, he was very comical.
3. Nayanthara, though she was not needed at all in the movie, seems to have satisfied her fans very well. Nayanthara plays Nayanthara in a very glamorous way, perhaps the most done by her ever. May be the new movie Sathyam will beat her show in Kuselan.
4. G.V.Prakash shines in the Background score department. The part where Pasupathi yearns to meet the superstar but unable to do so was neatly portrayed with the background score and the climax scene when they both actually meet is the highlight of G.V.P’s performance. Songs were all good on screen but there were some shortcomings and they could have been picturized better in a somewhat better situation. For example, Charal song appeared out of nowhere and Om zaara re needed some better choreography.
5. Rajinikanth’s performance was undoubtedly awesome. He easily juggles between a stylish superstar, a humble person behind the star and a good friend. Rajinikanth’s acting in the last 30 minutes was applaudable, he was simply superb. In fact, the movie has attained the stature because of Rajinikanth, had there not been him, this movie would have been just another average Kollywood movie.
6. Meena plays the role of Pasupathi’s Wife very cutely and reminds us of her formula of success during the days when she played the female lead role. This could be a successful comeback for her.
7. Pasupathi needs a special mention. He had done wonderful acting in movies like Virumandi and Veyil. His performance in Kuselan was simply top notch. Portraying the character of a principled, hard working hair dresser is one thing, Pasupathi also brings out a Father, husband and friend in him in a great way. He also involves himself in the comedy riot and proves he can be funny too. Pasupathi scores full marks for his performance.
Cons:
There are lots of minor cons in the movie due to the limited brain size and capacity of the director P.Vasu. If only he had replaced his hat and augmented it with some grey cells, the movie could have been made much better. Because, at the end of the movie I was left to feel that there were some places which could have been touched upon in a much better way.
1. Pasupathi is the main character in the movie, but it would seem in some places that he is lost in the gang of comedy riots. He deserved more footage and perhaps more part in the screen play.
2. P. Vasu can turn a happy song like “Perinba” into a pukable item number and can make dolphins (who have escaped from Hitchhiker’s guide to galaxy) jump in a shallow country side river.
3. The story builds up very well in the first half and leaves as very interested to look forward to the second half. Unfortunately the second half seemed like going round and round in a carousel and then getting out to move on to the climax of the movie. P.Vasu seemed like he had lost some direction in the second half.
4. The shooting spot. It must not have been a difficult task to pen some mini script/screen play for the shooting scenes. Instead, P.Vasu goes for cheesy 5 minuters like Annamalai Part 2, Chandramukhi part 2 and serves to be of no use in the screen play other than just fillers and entertainment for fans.
5. There were some moments when you would feel like comedy was becoming an overdose. I hated those and I just had to let it go to enjoy the rest of the movie.
6. Pasupathi’s attempt to meet the star could have been better. In fact, Vadivelu’s attempts were much more interesting and funny.
All said, the movie overall is quite enjoyable with the family for its Comedy, a simple story and a good climax. Kuselan wins in a simple way.
