Kuppathu Raja Movie Review -

Akash

Kuppathu Raja has GV Prakash Kumar playing 'Rocket', a guy from North Madras who has high regards for his area. Yogi Babu plays his friend and the movie starts off with a lot of attempt for humor and a love track between Rocket and the heroine. Parthiban who plays an MGR fan is seen as a man who fights for the good and rights of the people in this area. The major part of the film explores the lives of these characters and the conflict is not introduced to us for a very long time.

Ms Bhaskar, who plays GV Prakash’s father, does his usual best in an emotional role and the father-son scenes are pretty decent. The first half is loaded with songs and comedy scenes but sadly, these don’t create any impact visually/musically and the comedies do not really work with the audiences for most part. Director Baba Bhaskar has put in a lot of effort to bring the authenticty of the North Madras people onscreen (right from how they walk, dress, eat and talk) but there is no real story that binds together these efforts that eventually go in vain.

Some other characters played by a couple of kids are natural and they seem to emote pretty well. Even GV Prakash seems comfortable as the typical North Madras guy and Parthiban proves his mettle as we get to watch the kind of seasoned actor that he is. By the end of the first half, these are the only takeaways for the audiences.

Another issue is the look of the hero character that goes for a toss and there is a visible difference and inconsistencies with respect to his beard, moustache and hair which make it look very awkward. This jump in the look from one scene to another could have been avoided.

As for the technical aspects, a particular fight scene choreographer within an auto is very impressive and the visuals by Mahesh Muthuswami are good in these portions. Even otherwise, the cinematography is apt for a North Madras flick as the colour tones are set right. There is not much to complain about the edit by Praveen KL too. Music by GV Prakash Kumar could have been much better considering the class of his previous albums.

The second half brings to fore the conflict and also tells us what really the film talks about. Though all of it gets revealed eventually, one might lose their patience due to the course of time that the makers have taken to get to the crux. There is a conflict and there is a twist as usual but nothing excites the audiences as much as it could have. If for a more engaging screenplay and crisp writing, this might have worked.

On the whole, Kuppathu Raja has all the elements of a commercial pot-boiler that include romance, action, humour and a relevant conflict that links the characters but fails to stand out as an entertainer due to a draggy, ‘not to the point’ first half and a usual, typical second half. Though it does not have much to brag about, the effort that has been put in to bring these characters and their area to life, could have kept us hooked if for a better engagement.

Bottomline

A film with all possible commercial elements that lacks the required execution!

Rating: 1.5/5