Moodar Koodam Review - Daringly Different

by Bharath Vijayakumar

We are at a time when offbeat ventures that think out of the box and stay clear of the beaten track are finding an audience. Debutant Naveen's Moodar Koodam is one such promising attempt. The success of Soodhu Kavvum and to a certain extent Neram proves that black comedy is something that the present day audience find palatable. Moodar Koodam traverses this path with confidence.

Plot:

Four jobless youngsters with no clear indications of any light at the end of the tunnel forge a union by chance. They plan to execute a robbery at a house whose occupants are supposed to have left for a vacation. But they learn otherwise when they reach the house and now have no option but to have the family under house arrest and try their luck at extracting some money. What happens then inside the house for a day and were they successful is what Moodar Koodam is about.

Cast :

Director Naveen has doubled up as one of the four protagonists. The cast is almost entirely new except for a few known faces(Jayaprakash, Oviya and Anupama Kumar).  The making of Moodar Koodam has a short film feel to it and the presence of innumerable new faces keeps reinforcing this feel on us. This seems to have both positives and negatives. While the naiveness of the fresh faces lends authenticity to the script there is a feeling that some scenes might have clicked better with more convincing performances.

Making:

The movie screams of freshness right from the title cards. Each of the character has a backstory and each of this story is presented innovatively employing different techniques. One such story is told through animation. But another one about a dog in the film seemed a bit like going overboard. All these backstories are told through a crisp song(music by Natarajan Sankaran ) that gels well. The eagerness to stand out from the crowd is quite evident throughout the film. The humour works in many places though downright silly at times. There is a passing reference about match fixing by a North Indian Don speaking broken Tamil.Such flashes of witty humour impresses.This particular character is played by director Udhayabanu Maheswaran with aplomb. Even philosophical messages about how to see life are touched upon in some dialogues.

The beep sounds saving the audience from the cuss words get irritating after a point. The makers should decide well in advance whether they are fine with the movie reaching it's target audience or to get a compromised U certificate. Eradicate some silly scenes and a few amateur performances and Moodar Koodam might have scaled more heights. Nevertheless the film showcases the work of a promising filmmaker and a talent to watch out for. Kudos to the team and director Pandiraj for backing them through his Pasanga Productions.

Bottomline:

Moodar Koodam is a worthy attempt devoid of cliche's. Go for it if you have a taste for the different.

Rating: 3/5