Across many Tamil channels if there is an airing of a comedy show or a string of comedy clips, it won’t be without a single witty line of Vadivelu. Such was his clout in Kollywood until few years ago before he worked himself into exile due to a miscalculated political move in order to settle his personal scores. Every hero who wanted Vadivelu in their films during his hey days turned their back towards the comedian with the fear of getting sidelined. So it has been a turbulent time for the Kollywood clown who has made a comeback as a comic protagonist with Tenaliraman!
Tenaliraman, a historical personality who was a minister in the court of king Krishnadevaraya and who is also famous for his quick wit and repartee is a household name because of various fables that gets narrated to children that would invariably feature him as the protagonist. The plot of the movie is also based on a string of fables of his adventurous escapades in the king’s court and also a fictitious “good vs. bad” subplot was woven with some romance to make it a minimum guarantee family entertainer for this summer!
Donning a dual role (also as the king), Vadivelu was clearly the tour de force of this movie. He goes that extra mile to make us laugh and triumphs at certain junctures, but majority of the time it ends up as a stale joke that doesn't come across as the one that we would have expected and that was the movie’s biggest weakness. Also the movie tried to resemble the structure of ‘Imsai Arasan’ from head to toe since it was a tried and tested formula, but there the plot was way too deep and the script had some genuinely funny moments, whereas in Tenaliraman the script goes clueless at times and lingers with the glory of the comedian’s prowess with his modulation that doesn't weave the magic as it used to do a few years back.
Also the caste ensemble was quite good for the movie except the heroine, Meenakshi Dixit, who makes every effort to lip sync in Tamil only to flounder everytime. Also the songs were huge speed breakers for the narrative that was lagging already. And the climax - the reaction was like “has the movie ended”, as it was so atypical of a climax!
Nevertheless, this one should be treated as a warmup match for the comedy veteran who is all set to begin his second innings with vigor and conviction, hopefully!!
Verdict: Below Average!
Rating: 2 / 5
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