Another Tamil anthology has (finally) made it to the internet; this time revolving around the concept of love. With the lockdown in effect, big-time filmmakers downplayed their screenplays, characters, and budgets to tell simple but effective stories in anthologies like Amazon Prime's Putham Pudhu Kaalai (which had its moments, though nothing amazing!) and Netflix's Paava Kadhaigal (which I quite liked!). Kutti Story isn't exactly a worthy addition to the list but it's also not downright terrible. A couple of segments work (to an extent), a couple of them don't. Let's break them down one by one:
1. Edhirpaara Muththam - Packed with some aesthetic finesse (a GVM™ signature) and a pretty Amala Paul, this segment offers a not-bad start. It jumps timelines too frequently but GVM has control over his narration and performances. Robo Shankar's witty quips also help. It ain't mind-blowing but I'll take it for what it is.
2. Avanum Naanum - The reason it didn't work for me is writer-director Vijay's (super-obvious) struggle to nail the characterization of his leads, given the emotional heft in the plot and the short run-time. In fact, we see two time cards ('few months later' followed by 'few weeks later') within a span of 10 minutes. Megha Akash does an okay job here, but the writing is what needed to be infinitely better.
3. Lokham - A Venkat Prabhu experiment that didn't excite me at all. The concept (of two in-game characters falling for each other) is pretty unique but that's about it. The characterization is superficial and the tacky dialogues don't help. Venkat Prabhu still has a long way to go before he can write a pure romance film (sans the glossy, peripheral elements). Definitely my least favourite segment in the entire movie.
4. Aadal Paadal - Aptly positioned as the last segment, Nalan Kumaraswamy's story greatly benefits from the presence of Vijay Sethupathi (who can literally do no wrong!) and Aditi Balan (once again, superb!). Nalan's writing adds humour to some emotional/conventionally serious sequences, which the leads pull off to great effect. The way Nalan showcases the fragility of the male ego in an important scene is one to watch out for. The musical score (by Edwin Louis) in this segment is also spot-on.
On the whole, Kutti Story doesn't quite reach its intended highs, but it does let a few sparks fly. The problem is mostly with its uninteresting segments in the middle.
