KALAKALAPU FILM REVIEW

Kalakalapu (Masala Café) (2012)

Director: Sundar.C

Casts: Vimal, Shiva, Anjali, Oviya

Music: Vijay Ebenezer

Language: Tamil

Genre: Comedy

After a 7 years break from directing, Sundar.C who created a new dimension in comedy is back with a typical comedy film with his stamp impressed hard. Kalakalapu makes up for the missed years by offering non-stop tickle to the funny bone.

The plot of Kalakalapu is simple and straightforward but what makes the simple plot sparkle is the dialogues and performances. The first half focuses on the struggle of the brothers to revamp the glories of their Masala Café left by their ancestors. The opposite character traits of the brothers makes the events more interesting and this ‘chemistry’ flows through the entire film.

The second half of the screenplay marks the entry of Santhanam’s character and from there it is non-stop ‘intense’ comedy. The film then escalates with many plots crossing with each other and many characters having the same aim and concludes in a 30 minutes of a satisfying conclusion.

The witty one liners help the film and also reminds us of many Sundar.C movies and a bit of Crazy Mohan’s screenplay formats. Even though the film lacks logic and sometimes feels like a collage of previous of the director’s previous films like Ullathai Allitha at the climax and winner Kaipillai at the character of Santhanam and his gang, the film’s brisk pace and dialogue timing help us to oversee the illogical factors in the film.

The casting of Kalakalapu, is one of the main asset of the film and everyone have done their job exceptionally well. Sundar.C had even given the junior artistes to perform well especially towards the climax. 

However, the scene stealers are Shiva and Santhanam with their individual calibre.  Vimal does his role well but making him innocent has opposite effects at times ending up giving him a dumb look. However it gets ordinary as the film progresses. Anjali is impressive as usual whereas Oviya does well in her limited role.

The camera work of UK. Senthil is average whereas  the editors Praveen KL and Srikanth have done a great job with good pacing which determines whether a comedy usually hit or miss.  The music of Vijay Ebenezer is innovative but the placements are quite abrupt.

Verdict:  Sundar.C’ s second inning, Kalakalapu is a must watch for comedy entertainers who enjoys entertainment over logic.

Rating: 3.5/5