Kathakali (film)

Plot

Amudhavel (Vishal), after spending 5 years in the United States, returns to Cuddalore for his marriage to his long-time girlfriend Meenu Kutty (Catherine Tresa). He is forced to invite to his marriage a local don Thamba (Madhusudhan Rao), despite a previous history between them. Thamba was responsible for dragging Amudhavel and his elder brother Gnanavel (Mime Gopi) to jail 5 years ago on a false charge after Gnanavel, who worked in Thamba's fishing business, decided to leave Thamba and start his own fishing business. Thamba was also responsible for chopping off the leg of Amudhavel and Gnanavel's father Rajarathinam when he had tried to intervene in the fight between Thamba and his sons, confining him to a wheelchair. To escape from Thamba and his gang and not cause any more harm to his family, Amudhavel had emigrated to the USA.

While Amudhavel is in Chennai doing wedding shopping with Meenu Kutty, he gets the news that Thamba had been killed the previous day. Unfortunately for Amudhavel, he is soon suspected of murdering Thamba due to their enmity. Thamba's henchmen set Amudhavel's house on fire, forcing Gnanavel and his family to go into hiding. Inspector Saravana Vadivel (Sreejith Ravi), a cruel and merciless police officer, is assigned to bring Thamba's killer to justice. Since Amudhavel is the prime suspect, Vadivel orders him to present himself at Cuddalore the next day and prove his innocence, failing which he will be considered as the murderer of Thamba and will be thrown into jail. Amudhavel leaves for Cuddalore at midnight, with policemen heavily guarding the bus and route in which he is travelling to prevent him from escaping.

Amudhavel manages to escape from the police at Puducherry and meets up with Gnanavel and his family. Amudhavel and Gnanavel then leave for Cuddalore to meet Vadivel. They soon find out that Vadivel has no intention of hearing their story and is determined to throw them into prison. They escape from Vadivel and the police. While on the run, Amudhavel finds out that Vadivel himself is behind the death of Thamba. Vadivel had been humiliated in front of his wife by Thamba, because of which he had decided to take revenge on Thamba by sending men to kill him and then framing his death on Amudhavel. Amudhavel confronts Vadivel, forcing him to reveal that he was the murderer of Thamba in front of Thamba's teenage son, who then kills him.

In the end, it is revealed to the audience that, though Vadivel had plotted to kill Thamba, the real murderer of Thamba was none other than Amudhavel. Amudhavel, who was determined to take revenge against Thamba for the atrocities he committed against him and his family, had stabbed Thamba and escaped before Vadivel's men arrived and further stabbed a dying Thamba to death.

Cast

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack album and background score were composed by Hiphop Tamizha, who also penned the lyrics for the songs. The soundtrack album consists of four tracks and was released on 24 December 2015.The album won positive reviews from both critics and audiences. Behindwoods rated the album 2.5 out of 5.Sify rated the album 3/5 stating "After a roaring ‘Thani Oruvan’, Hiphop Thamizha plays to the gallery of the movie here by sticking to the movie’s demands. A romantic number, a kuthu number & couple of theme music pieces make the album crisp & to the point".Only Kollywood rated the album 3 out of 5.Only Kollywood stated " Hip Hop Tamizha keep their respect intact with Kathakali, which is yet another attempt at experimental music within the brackets of commercial cinema. Hats off to their lyrical quality, something which they have been maintaining very well since day one. With the visuals, the themes should click big time, aiding the film to gain its much-needed pace and mileage. This is good stuff from the duo once again, inside four walls".

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV. Kathakali was released on 14 January 2016 alongside Rajini Murugan, Gethu and Tharai Thappattai as one of the Pongal releases.

Critical reception

Baradwaj Rangan of The Hindu called it a "fairly watchable thriller" where "Two things help. One, the two-hour running time. Two, the focus." M Suganth of The Times of India rated the film 3 out of 5 and stated, "What is refreshing about Kathakali is that it is less an action film and more a mystery", adding, "It is in the final portions that the film slips a bit. Given that Amudhavel is played by Vishal, the character has to be an action hero and so, we see him beating up professional gangsters with hardly any effort, and the film starts to resemble conventional action films." Indiaglitz gave it a 2.8/5 saying that "[It] is a good entertainer that slowly builds into an action packed thriller."