Films like 'Kathanayagan' (directed by Muruganandham and starring Vishnu Vishal as Thambidurai & Catherine Tresa as Kanmani) are bound to jog our memories of that terrible phase in Tamil cinema where majority of the scenes looked like mere filler. It's a bunch of comedy skits knit together clumsily. The movie, for good part, fits into the seen-it- all- before category. There's barely any freshness in the storyline, which basically is an excuse to hop from one running-gag to another (even the supposed humor is of subpar quality).
'Kathanayagan' which translates to lead hero, is about a coward Thambidurai who at a given situation has to both, get his sister married as well as create a positive impression in front of his girlfriend Kanmani's dad (who's seen him run away from his manly duties earlier). Soori plays Annadurai, the childhood bestie of Thambidurai. Together, their scenes are a bore (and not the laugh riots they're supposed to be). Movies like this revive the utterly lame trends of guy-stalking-girl to get her attention and the protagonist going lengths to pay the hefty dowry demands made by his sister's to-be in laws.
At first, Thambidurai is shown to be scared of dogs and struggles to even cross a busy street in the city that he lives in. Songs pop up at the most predictable of instances and however good a composer Sean Roldan actually is, his choice of films ensures that his compositions won't remain the least bit memorable. We have the intro song-cum-romantic number, the bar song, the sad song and during the climax, some imaginative howling (in the name of singing) of popular Tamil tracks by Mottai Rajendran which makes you let out a chuckle initially but is overcooked and spoilt by the time the scene is done and dusted.
This is the kind of movie where the mom (Saranya Ponvannan) proudly tells the neighbor (who insulted her son earlier) how much dowry they're paying for their daughter's wedding, followed by a slo-mo walk scene (Achievement unlocked!). There are subplots involving a group of thugs trying to impress their gangster-boss, a case of the mistaken diagnosis in a hospital (which reminds you of the 1990 movie 'Short Time' - featuring a funny cameo from a rather chubby-looking Vijay Sethupathi who plays the philosophical Dr. Phoenix Raj) and a sheikh (Anandaraj) who's looking for a kidney - stuff that sounds hilarious on paper but do not manage to stand out on screen because of faulty execution.
The second half though, fares marginally better than the first as the number of laughs are slightly on the higher side and there's a song that goes 'Tappu Tippu' - a wacky number where thugs chase Thambidurai through narrow slums (the film needed a lot more quirkiness along these lines). The idea of the director seems solely to make the audience leave the cinema hall in a jolly good mood (by ticking off all boxes in the list of 'harmless entertainer' requisites). These days, the (sensible) audience needs much more to chew on, than just acknowledging that our hero can romance, dance and beat goons up.
Verdict: Can be avoided!
