Karnan Movie Review
Cast-;
Dhanush,Rajisha Vijayan,Lal Paul, Natarajan Subramaniam,Yogi Babu , Gouri G. Kishan, Lakshmi Priyaa Chand ramouli, Subatra, Azhagam Perumal, Madhan, G.M Kumar, Poo Ram, Shanmugarajan, Janaki
Crew-;
Writer & Director – Mari Selvaraj, Cinematography -Theni Eswar , Editor – Selva R.K. , Music – Santhosh Naray anan , Art Director – Tha.Ramalingam ,Action Choreography -,Dhilip Subbarayan, Lyrics – Yuga Bharathi , Dance Chor eography – Sandy ,Publicity Design – Kabilan ,Production Executive – Venkat Arumugam , PRO – Riaz K Ahmed ,Diamond Babu , Production company – V Creations,Distributed – Zee Studios etc.
Story-;
Karnan is an action movie set in the rural drop. It is about a youth who comes as the saviour of the oppressed. He has to fight for the rights of the conservative people in his village. In the teaser released two weeks ago, it was cl ear that the film will have violence in the story, but to what extent is unclear as the sword-wielding hero pre pa res for the battle. Not a single drop of blood was shown in the teaser, but the audience could sense the viole nce Karnan is a village youngster who fears for nothing. His village Podiyankulam didn’t even have a bus stop and the government is neglecting it. Even the people living in nearby villages don’t contact Podiyankulam due to some communal issues. How Karnan fights for his village’s rights and solves all the issues form the rest of the story.
Watch The Trailor -;
Movie Review-;
Mari Selvaraj’s Karnan has all the elements that a mass hero demands from filmmakers to exhilarate his fans and this most anticipated film of 2021 is an apt example of good cinemaThere is a point in the film where he’s putting up his bravest face and gearing up for a fight against the police. He tells his lover, “you do know they’ll eventually catch and throw me in prison, right?” She says that she does and is willing to wait for him. In response, he asks, “what if they kill me while inside?” The scene lingers for just a moment, for us to see that Karnan knows that the ir protest — which the oppressor will see as provocation — will only beget more cruel violence.Just a few minut es later, we see what an evolved, yet raging, leader would do. In the fantastic climax scene, Karnan pleads to his oppressor — even as he’s holding a sword to his throat — not to enrage him further. He doesn’t want revenge; he simply wants to be heard. Even when he’s lost so much, he’s working to prevent further damage. This Karnan too is generous, within the constraints of his lived reality.
The film takes its time to establish these characters, with good reason. Karnan is not the story of one person aff ecting another person in one incident. It is the culmination of historical violence meted out to an entire co mm unity by those in power. To understand Karnan’s rage, we need to see how everyone disregards his entire existe nce every day. The lack of a bus stop is a metaphor. What Selvaraj wants us to see is the cruelty that every one of us is capable of, even when the odds are truly low.Take the example of the scene where Karnan requests a bus conductor to stop at his village, as over a dozen passengers need to get off. The conductor and driver pick a fight with him, abetting him to jump off a moving bus, but they wouldn’t stop for a second for the villagers to get off. The first half is full of many incidents like these.Karnan’s biggest success is in the writing. In spite of bringing tog ether dozens of characters, Selvaraj makes each one of them real. Yaman, played by an enchanting Lal, is the kindly godfather. A pillar of support for Karnan, while also protecting him from the dangers of the latter’s own anger.
A widower still crushingly in love — filling heart and soul into Deva’s rendition of manjanathi puranam.There is also the village leader who refuses to take down the towel wrapped around his head — a sign of subservience demanded by dominant castes; Yogi Babu’s character, who is cynical, but comes around; a young woman whose college-going dreams are crushed; the boy who raises a horse; the pregnant woman who stands up for her son; Karnan’s sister who is both proud and scared; the lover who puts up a good fight — Karnan’s universe is made of multi-dimensional people, as complex as they’re grounded.Karnan is a young man waiting for a military job in a village that has no mercy from the State (oh, the spirited irony of this!). They don’t have a school, a hospital, not even a bus stand, despite having petitioned for it multiple times. They are forced to use the bus stand in a neig hbouring village, where begins the abyss of indignities meted out to them. Mari Selvaraj’s sophomore film Kar nan is about the village’s fight for dignity against a system that’s deliberately and cruelly stacked against them.
The plot of Karnan is wafer-thin but it is the execution of Mari Selvaraj that makes it special. It is the story of a n ormal fearless guy with incredible leadership quality and grit to save his people and fight for their rights. Right from MGR to today’s Vijay and Ajith, we have seen our mass icons in similar stories but all those films weren’t ma de by a director who also believes that all the characters in the film should have a purpose and the core theme is more important than the protagonist. With Karnan, Mari Selvaraj has found a perfect balance between mainst ream commercial elements and the metaphorical storytelling, the home ground of arthouse filmma kers.Podi ya nkulam (Inspired by the infamous Kodiyankulam riot) is a dry village located in the 90s Tuticorin district. The film begins with a small girl lying on the road struggling with a sudden epilepsy attack. None of the vehicles stop to he lp her and she dies. Eventually, Mari replaces the girl’s head with an idol (Uruvam is the word used for it in down south of Tamil Nadu).
The youngsters in the village are unable to achieve big as even the basic transportation facility is denied by the Government. The people in Podiyankulam belong to the oppressed caste and hence, they have enmity with the neighboring village where the majority of people belong to the privileged community (note the Seevilaperi Pandi song as the person from the neighboring village makes his appearance for the first time in the film).Meanwhile, Karnan (Dhanush), an angry young man from Podiyankulam always stands for his people. Karnan is like the warr ior from Mahabharata, a strong-willed youngster, who fights for his people and comes out victorious in whatever he does. His Godfather in the village is Yaman (Lal). While Karnan stands up whenever the neighboring villagers try to oppress his people, Yaman controls him as the dream of the former’s family is to get him a Government jo b, preferably in the police or army.However, the continuous oppression pushes Karnan and his friends to revolt. As a result, they break a private bus and loudly tell the Government officials that their needs should be heard out.
But the police officials and Government lets them down and brutally torture the senior members in the village. Will Karnan hit back at the heartless police force headed by Kannabiran (Natty- what an ironical name!)?Mari Selvaraj has made sure that Kannan, the God of Mahabharata is a villain here and Karnan, the unsung hero gets enough glorification on screen. There are many metaphors including the little girl with an idol-like mask, a don key whose legs are tied, the vulture that eats up the weak pullet, names of the village seniors, and Karnan’s sword that cuts the fish in the first scene. All these metaphors either acts as an ode to Mahabharata (although the film criticizes it) or rightly amplify the screenplay.Mari Selvaraj has conveyed the pain and sufferings of the oppressed without hurting anyone and he must be appreciated for using the visual representation and not the heroic dialogues to represent their struggle. Even, the pre-climax dialogue of Dhanush sounds relevant and not forced.
He is the filmmaker to watch out for in Tamil cinema.Karnan clearly belongs to Dhanush and it is a cakewalk for him. He is fantastic in the action scenes and the emotional moments to express the anguish of the oppressed. Lal has finally got an interesting role in Tamil cinema and he has truly excelled. GM Kumar, Yogi Babu (another fant astic role for the actor), Rajisha Vijayan, Lakshmipriya (the scene when she hits Dhanush is powerful), Gouri Kis han, Natty, Yogi Babu, and the small boy who takes care of the horse are superb choices.Santhosh Narayanan’s music is inspiring and gels well with the mood of the film and Theni Eshwar’s camera work is splendid. The art director Ramalingam also deserves applause for recreating an entire 90s style village. On the downside, the film is a tad bit long and actors struggle to speak Nellai Tamil.Overall, Karnan is a classic revenge saga that talks ab out the pain, suffering, and rise of the oppressed.
This IS MY Personal Review So Please Go And Watch The Movie In Theaters Only
Written By- T.H.PRASAD -B4U-Ratting-3 /5
