Movie review: Bommallaattam (Tamil – Bharathiraaja)

Bharathiraja’s long-in-the-making Bommallaattam, is one sickeningly boring experience. No, the plot is interesting enough, with a mind-bending twist similar to the one seen in The Crying Game and subsequently, Ace Venture: Pet Detective – this is perfectly acceptable and absorbing. It’s the narrative – the editor goes overboard and retains the most mundane and meaningless scenes, while the director himself seems to be in awe of his technique and stuffs the film with incredibly pointless scenes that just ramble on and on in the name of driving a point. Obviously, subtlety is one the traits that Bharathiraja has lost in his ongoing war with senility.

Himesh’s songs add the overall state of tedium, while the background music by Monty is extraordinarily juvenile and loud. The cast, with no exception, overacts. Nana wants to act well, but the director’s orders seem very clear – ham and look blank, in equal intervals; and it comes across best (worst?) in the scene where Nana continues with his shoot, supposedly detached, just after his wife (Ranjitha) completes a rabble-rousing trip to this shooting spot. Kajal Agarwal’s character is utterly meaningless and the film would be equally worse without it. Arjun looks bored, boring and old – a CBI officer who lands in a accident spot long before the case (even before it is filed!) is even open for investigation. Rukmini, obviously, has very little to say and is plain funny, throughout – the funniest is when she’s let off the hook by Arjun, in the end – the way she ballets her way in the sunset, is the single-most, unintentionally funniest scene I’ve seen in decades!

Word count be damned – this is least expected from a director who has made some of the most memorable and meaningful movies in Tamil. His fetish for slick, urban thrillers amidst rural masterpieces is well known and the man has made some good ones like Oru Kaidhiyin Dairy, Sigappu Rojaakkal and Tik Tik Tik – no two ways about it. But, age has caught up with him and I hope he realizes this before making another laughing stock of a thriller.

Keywords: Nana Patekar, Arjun, Kajal Agarwal, Rukmini, Bommalattam

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