Film: Kaakka Muttai.
Cast: Ramesh, Vignesh, Iyshwarya Rajesh, Ramesh Thilak, Yogi Babu, Babu Antony.
Director: M. Manikandan
'Kaakka Muttai' is a window facing the sea which allows the calm evening sun to enter the muscles and ribs of the human body to warm the heart. The evening sun also brings with it a refreshing breeze staging the essentiality of watching a film.
Often aspirations of the poor meet with the limitations of the downtrodden. From the mumbo jumbo of class division emerges this little crow’s egg. Ramesh and Vignesh, the two bright stars of the film, are marked by blithe unconcern for the camera. There’s innocence coupled with brilliance and honesty in their portrayal of the principal characters. Never do we get the chance to question their moves. That’s the achievement of this film.
These two kids who grow up eating crow’s eggs are not your regular schoolgoing kids. Their mornings are filled by roaming around their neighborhood. They are not the 'lucky' ones who play in the one hour slot dedicated to physical education in schools. Their play and work are one and the same with a slight difference.
They earn whichever way they can while they are at it. While the kids are happy in their own little world, pizza which is an exotic item for them becomes their target, after their beloved playground turns into a pizza shop. Moreover the pizza is endorsed by Simbu (whose cameo doesn’t overshadow the narrative pace), so, their reach gains more legs.
The egg brothers are on one side of the fence, whereas Lokesh, an occasional friend of the duo and a boy from the upper middle class, is on the other side of the fence. Though, this thick layer of class divide is present throughout the picture, 'Kaakka Muttai' doesn’t milk our sympathies. There’s more to their happiness than what money can ever buy.
There are different ways of putting this particular story out to the viewers but writer – director Manikandan’s way is perhaps the best. He doesn’t, for a moment, ask us to lend a hand to them. Instead he plucks a cherry off the tree of life. The director has shot the film as well. Is that why Cooum also presents itself as a part of the larger picture rather than as an object of poverty?
If a Gautham Menon protagonist travels to the US with a song on his lips and a guitar in his hands to woo his ladylove, Manikandan’s protagonists travel the length and breadth of Chennai city for that one bite of pizza. Their interests are nowhere connected by a chord nonetheless the outcome is nothing less than winning.
Rating: 4.5/5
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