Odu Raja Odu movie review: Tickles your funny bone, only partially
Direction: Nishanth Ravindran-Jatin Shankar
Cast: Guru Somasundaram, Lakshmi Priya, Nasser, Anandsami, Simran
Dark comedies seem to be the order of the day in Tamil cinema. Odu Raja Odu is debutants Nishanth Ravindran and Jathin Shankar's one such attempt, which has a non-linear hyperlink narration.
Manohar (Guru Somasundaram) is a struggling writer and his wife Meera (Lakshmi Priya) — a homemaker — wants him to buy a set-top-box so that they can watch and enjoy a movie on their wedding anniversary. Manohar takes his friend Peter (Venkatesh), a small-time drug peddler as well as a druggie to get a set-up-box. And this is when the whole misadventure begins. As they meet Peter’s supplier Gajapathy (Melvin), an underling of suit gang dada, Veerabhadran (Deepak Bhaga), the duo is forced to complete a deal for them. But, things go wrong and they end up losing Veera’s huge sum as well as land in a veshti gang dada Kalimuthu’s (Nasser) bungalow when an unexpected twist takes place. Then there’s this Nakul (Anandsami) who's released from jail, and he has a score to settle with Kalimuthu.
With several characters coming in and out of each scene, the directors take their own time to establish them and it almost runs till interval block. What is interesting is that each time a character is introduced, there’s a single line description about him/her, which sums up their traits. To name a few — Veshti Dada, Suit gang, Malgova Manaivi, Ex-Mudichavuki, Arundhavaalu etc.
There’s not much scope for Guru or Lakshmi to perform, however, they make their presence felt during the climax when they shower their love for each other despite shortcomings. All others including Nasser, Anandsami, Ashiqa Salvan, Venkatesh chip in their bit. Simran appears in a special cameo. Deepak Bagga, Sona Heydon as Nasser’s young wife Mythili and the two kids are adequate.
There’s quirkiness in terms of narration and scenes. But the slow pace mars the flow of events. Hence, the amusement factor is diminished. Barring Lakshmi Priya, why are all the ladies in the film are portrayed as sex objects? A teen neighbor woos Meera and tries to have sex with her, Mary (Ashiqa) is two-timing with Nakul and his friend Imran, Mythili has sex with a stranger Peter. And there is this blink-n-miss ‘Bodhai Mami’ character, which is unwarranted. The CG work looks tacky. On the whole a film that tickles your funny bones only partially.
