new roommate, warns him of the consequences, and the two scramble to find evidence and get rid of the body.
As and when they try to cover up their tracks, they keep making one more mistake, leaving behind a new clue. Apart from adding value to the story, what this does is make way for several amusing subplots. For instance, when Arun and Somu try to throw the body from a bridge, the director gives it a Panchathantiram-esque treatment, leaving audiences in splits.
That said, the film does very little to steer clear of predictability. In addition, the film lets us in on a crucial motive early on in the film, even if the characters learn of it only towards the end. This chips away at the genre’s edge-of-the-seat effect. Almost making up for it, the makers load the pre-climactic sequence with several twists, but it comes off as overloaded.
Like I mentioned earlier, there are many eyes watching Arun and Somu. As a result, we get a chain of wonderful sequences with different suspects blackmailing each other. Prasanna’s Somu is almost the calm to Udhayanidhi’s storm in the film, and their scenes are some of the best written bits.
However, for a film that focuses so much on CCTV videos as evidence, logic takes a back seat as most CCTVs remain unchecked — suspects roam freely in a dead woman’s car (with a body for a whole day) and the police are hardly clued in on most occasions. Yet what drives you to overlook such flaws, besides a mostly engaging screenplay, is Jalandhar Vasan’s camera that always films from a distance — peeping through windows, holes in walls or from the insides of another car — underscoring the addage that “someone else is always watching.”
Director Mu. Maran’s first film in Iravukku Aayiram Kangal turned out to be a convincing thriller, and he has now arrived with another interesting film on the same lines – Kannai Nambathe. The filmmaker has kept up to the familiar regards of his first film here as well, and that has worked out in its favor as well as against the film.
Kannai Nambathe starts off with Arun (Udhaynidhi Stalin) in search of a house in Chennai, and he finds company in Somu (Prasanna). As Somu invites him over for a night out at a bar, Arun refuses to drink and crosses paths with a woman in a car, which turns over a slew of events involving many characters together. After wiling away the time in the first half for a bit with some romantic portions, the film picks up pace once the inciting incident is set in motion. By keeping his characters different from each other, Maran is able to topple over the predictions of the audiences at a couple of places. Into the second half, the film slows down a bit and does get a little repetitive and predictable with its twists. The climax sequence definitely could have been conceived in a better way, but the film does keep itself on its toes until the end.
Udhaynidhi Stalin does a fine job and is impressive in a role that does not give him any heroism but keeps him as the thread linking all the events in the film. Prasanna is equally good in a role that is as good as or stronger than that of the hero, and so is Bhumika who has a fine part to play. The film has a lot of characters who have all contributed quite well in totality.
Technically, Kannai Nambathe is neat though there are no great shakes in the cinematography or music department. The editing by San Lokesh tries a few new things and works out well for the film.
