‘Kudumbasthan’ movie review: Manikandan maintains his winning streak with this entertaining comedy caper

A still from ‘Kudumbasthan’ 
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

At a time when family audiences are expected to be entertained by gore and violence, which seems to be the go-to genre for superstars, it’s difficult for those who grew up in the 80s and 90s not to reminisce about the family dramas that made audiences throng the theatres. Auteurs like K Balachander, Visu, V Sekhar and Bhagyaraj filled their filmographies with movies that catered to the family audience. While they played to their strength and their films had several themes, the common thread — at least in most cases — was the realistic portrayal of contemporary middle-class life. Manikandan, along with director Rajeshwar Kalisamy of YouTube channel Nakkalites fame, have teamed up to give us a slice of the bygone era of ‘kudumba padangal’ that discusses present-day issues which have evolved over the years and the film almost nails what it aims for.

Kudumbasthanfollows the trials and tribulations of Naveen (Manikandan), a newly married youngster who, as the only earning member of his family, lives paycheck to paycheck thanks to an onslaught of commitments. If his mother wants him to sponsor her pilgrimage trip, his father needs him to refurbish their dilapidated house. While his pregnant wife Vennila (Saanve Megghana) is preparing for her Civil Service exam that results in multiple expenses for Naveen, his niece’s ear-piercing ceremony means he has to go above and beyond to gift his sister’s child. If this isn’t enough, Naveen is keen on making it big because of his brother-in-law Rajendran (Guru Somasundaram) who loves to assert dominance and bring him down. While walking a tightrope, Naveen has to juggle multiple responsibilities as life teaches him why it’s futile to change the system and how becoming a cog within this wretched machine is inevitable.

Manikandan with back-to-back hits — Good Nightand Lover — seems to have the Midas touch and his winning streak continues with Kudumbasthan. As with most of his earlier films, he plays a relatable, boy-next-door character who has to battle his odds not to win but merely to survive. Rajeshwar Kalisamy brings the flavour of his Nakkalites channel to the big screen and more than the feel-good nature of the film, it’s the humour that turns out to be Kudumbasthan’s USP. Set in the filmmaker’s tried and tested Kongu region, the film feels like a medley of Nakkalites skits stitched together and this happens to be both the film’s boon and bane.

While it might take a few moments to sink into the world of Kudumbasthan’s humour, once you become a part of it, the barrage of jokes keeps the waves of laughter flowing. The film has some hilarious stretches — like when Naveen is literally penniless but needs to buy a chicken, or when his parents doll up for their 60th wedding celebration, or even a minor sequence featuring a character locked inside a room, complete with a Shining reference. Fascinatingly, in a film populated by multiple characters with each making their presence felt, the best sequences are those involving Naveen, alone in the bathroom, speaking to himself with only his thoughts and words for company. The uproarious scenes felt like a hat-tip to Janagaraj’s legendary comical sequences from Anna Nagar Mudhal Theru.

More than the obvious jabs, it’s the smaller touches from Rajeshwar Kalisamy and Prasanna Balachandran who have penned the story and screenplay. The very first scene features Naveen and Vennila eloping while a church speaker blasts a sermon about love. The film liberally uses songs — mostly in an ironic manner — to take a dig at our protagonist’s state of affairs. A personal favourite is how Naveen’s battered car audio system plays the ‘Lesa Lesa’ track on its own as if it pities the difficult life of its owner and another scene where Naveen gatecrashes his friends’ place to see them inebriated and the music along with their passed out bodies make it looks like a renaissance painting. The set-ups and pay-offs on the writing front come to fruition in multiple places — the stretches where Naveen and his friends meet a tyre puncture shop owner or the way he uses his newly found park mates’ friendship are good examples of it.

Whether these wonderful sequences come together to make a well-rounded film is another question as that’s where Kudumbasthan falters. The film does not warrant its 155-minute runtime and once we get past the hilarious bits of it, the back-to-back hitches that knock the living daylights off our lead also take a toll on us. As with most comedies, some of the jokes don’t land the way they were intended to.

A still from ‘Kudumbasthan’ 
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

A subplot involves Naveen’s family taking constant jabs at his wife for belonging to the oppressed community. While the film’s attempt to honestly portray the issues of a woman within an intercaste wedding is commendable, some “jokes” at this expense leave a bad aftertaste. Speaking of subplots, the arcs of fellow characters could have benefitted from more attention; be it Vennila’s spontaneous reactions in some sequences or another character’s change of heart despite initially wanting a divorce feel inorganic. The climax sequence where multiple knots unravel, which sounds like a fine idea on paper, does not translate convincingly on screen.

But it’s the performances of Manikandan and in some sequences, Guru Somasundaram’s, that steer the film towards victory. Manikandan aces the role of an underdog and the actor does a phenomenal job of a man who succumbs to life’s biggest challenges but at the same time, enjoys the littlest of joys the same life offers. The final stretch where he turns from being straight in a crooked system to being as broken as the system itself leaves us wishing the film offered more on this front. Guru has always been a force to reckon with and he pulls off the role of an egotistical maniac with ease. Kudumbasthan is technically strong and how Sujith N Subramaniam’s cinematography and Kannan Balu’s editing work in tandem demand a special mention. In a scene, a character drops some sand to form a pile and the shot cuts to that of the same character pouring ketchup over a samosa. Kudumbasthan is riddled with more such cuts and they embellish the mood of the film.

Kudumbasthan, much like most families out there, has its flaws and shortcomings. But similar to a mother’s hand-fed affection or a father’s care-laden motivation talks, the film comes as a tender affirmation that Tamil cinema has more to offer than just action and violence.

Kudumbasthan is currently running in theatres