All in All Azhagu Raja FDFS Review

All in All Azhaguraja created some level of curiosity due to a number of successful combos coming together -- 1. Director Rajesh & Santhanam(SMS,BeB,OKOK), 2. Karthi & Santhanam(Siruthai), 3. Karthi and Kajal(Naan Mahan Alla). It is expected that the inter-chemistry between the actors under Rajesh's direction could spark off a perfect laugh riot. Unfortunately, the movie 'All in All' falls flat.

Plot

Kajal tries to make it big in performing arts(singing and dancing) and Karthi makes fun of her and discourages her saying she is not good enough. Finally the hero is proved correct as Kajal fails in every single thing she attempts, including suicide attempts. After almost 150 minutes, Karthi convinces her in the end that the best she could do is be a "responsible" house-wife which by itself is an achievement in this day and age. In order to deliver this 'rich' point across, Rajesh includes a bunch of Santhanam comedy scenes, Karthi-wooing-Kajal scenes and family feud scenes to bundle this into a full-length comedy drama.

Story, Screenplay and Direction?

Director Rajesh must have thought he could deliver his 4th continuous hit by relying purely on Santhanam comedy mounted on a wafer-thin storyline. The law of averages has eventually caught up with Rajesh in All in All Alaguraja. Due to poor screenplay, the movie has no engaging scenes from beginning to end. There are a couple of highlights in the movie -- second half flashback scenes when Karthi impersonates Prabhu is interestingly conceived. There is a minor twist towards the end that resolves the central dispute between the two warring families. 

Cast and Comedians

It is unfortunate that the successful combo of Rajesh and Santhanam could not deliver any memorable comedy sequence in the entire movie. Santhanam's one-liners fail big this time. Most of the characters often over-react and mouth long dialogues making the audience restless.  

Karthi continues with his usual modulations and dialogue delivery patterns. But, Karthi should be commended for his commitment and excellent impersonation of actor Prabhu in the flash-back sequence. Kajal acts as the typical dumb heroine usually seen in Tamil movies. Kajal has acted without applying any 'kajal' nevertheless plastering a layer of bright makeup. She provides the right set of expressions expected from a heroine in mass commercial movies. 

Music and Technicalities

Rajesh's past movies are backed by hit songs and good technical values. Thaman has delivered a couple of hum-worthy songs (unnai partha neram, chellam). However, Thaman's BGM is clueless in a number of scenes. Thaman could not be blamed since he could only do so much to save a failing scene.  Technically, Cinematography looks sloppy with inconsistent lighting and static shots. The costume and make-up departments have done a relatively good job in bringing the early 80s look of Karthi, Santhanam and Radhika Apte.

The editor probably didn't have enough raw footage to work with. The shots goes on forever without going for a cut or any edits. One such example is the long drawn-out sequence and dialogues when Karthi falls unconscious (scared after seeing Kajal striking a "Chandramukhi" pose... not kidding!). 

Director's Premonition

There is an interesting coincidence in a scene set in 1980 involving Karthi (as young Prabhu) and Santhanam (as theatre manager) betting on which movie to secure rights to release for Diwali of 1980 in their theatres. Santhanam strongly recommends to buy the rights of actor Sudhakar's movie "Thai Pongal" while Karthi suggests the theatre owner, Nassar, to buy newcomer Rajni's "Billa". Santhanam even pokes fun by calling Rajni and Kamal as fads while confidently calling actor Sudhakar as the real deal. Nasser the theatre owner, decides to buy Santhanam's pick of "Thai Pongal" which eventually turn out to become a flop while Billa becomes a runaway hit in 1980.

Will "All in All Azhaguraja" turn out to be the "Thai Pongal of 2013"?

Reviewer Rating -