ORU KAL ORU KANNADI (OK OK) Film Review

By Kannan Vijayakumar (Singapore)

The proverb ‘Laughter is the best medicine’ it best describes the format of Rajesh’s previous two films, Siva Manasula Sakthi and Boss Engira Baskaran. His films are known for wafer thin story with witty dialogues and bright presentation.  Similarly, Rajesh have played safe by following his usual formula in his third installment, Oru Kal Oru Kannadi. So have this tested formula fetched a hat trick for him?

Story - Screenplay     

Like earlier mentioned, Rajesh’s films follows a certain formula of showcasing a couple’s love and the friendship of the protagonist. OK OK also has that formula but what make it more colourful are the extended screen time of Santhanam and the focus of the cute friendship of Sarvanan-Partha duo. The tremendous improvement of the comic timing of the dialogues is the major strength of OK OK. Rajesh showcases his brilliancy in placing simple set ups and pay offs impact fully by the arrangement of the screenplay.

The dialogues are realistic and sharp. Examples like ‘Kekaravan kennayana iruntha, carom board-a kandupichathu K.S. Ravikumar-nuviye’ and ‘Azhuguna palam-mathiri iruntha, 5E enna 10E kuda varum’ shows the writer’s innovation. Look out for pre-climax scene of Santhanam translating the broken English of Udhayanidhi like a Pastor. Truly Fantastic!

Other than these factors, OK OK has a very rumbling story but keeps us engrossed with a never dreary flow of screenplay. However the bit about Saravanan’s mother striving to get a Degree to please the father is enjoyable at parts but completely redundant to the story. The slight problem of OK OK which some will spot is the light hearted value over shadowing the emotions and love which is intended by the director.

Casting & Performance

Santhanam have become a soul of Rajesh films and it will not be too much to say that he has carried OK OK on his shoulder with his presence. He has given the same amount of screen time and importance of the protagonist and have utilised to its maximum. There is no doubt that this Rajesh-Santhanam combination will also be a strong favourite for the best comedian award.  The successful producer, Udhayanidhi have also proved to be a competent actor in OK OK. He have underplayed at many parts playing along well with Santhanam to bring out the comedy effectively. Even though his dance sequences seems to be quite limited and stagnant, in overall a good debut for the actor.  Haniska looks stunning and does reasonably well in comedy too. Saranya and Azhagam Perumal fit the bill well. Like in all Rajesh films, there are guest appearances by actors but this time three of them; Aarya, Sneha and Andrea. Even though it looks forced into the script, all of them do their role well. In overall, the casting team led by Santhanam are sure shot winners.

Technicality

Harris Jeyaraj’s music does add a colourful tone to the film with cheerful songs and re-recording. ‘Akila Akila’ stamps his trademark whilst Harris’s rare pearl of folk, ‘Venam Machan’ tops the list accompanied with comically innovative choreography. Cinematographer Balasubramaniem who joins hand with Rajesh for the first time, successfully manages to visually portray the bright tone of this comedy. The visuals look cleaner and richer than the previous two films of Rajesh. The editor has opted to keep the scenes long which make the film run for almost 3 hours. However, the good thing about it is that the length of the film can never be felt due to the back to back flow of entertaining scenes.

Conclusion

Comedy is never an easy thing to write or execute but Rajesh have managed to hit a hat trick with an accelerating graph of quality. The team have never promised something serious or complex; hence OK OK is nothing less than a full-fledged entertainer. Moreover, keeping his trend alive in all three films without anyone complaining, is something which only handful of film makers in Kollywood have succeeded. With Santhanam – Udhayanidhi combination, Rajesh have managed keep his trend going strong again with a better screenplay and dialogues from his previous two ventures. After a current series of serious and dark films, the release of OK OK should feed maximum number of patrons who are craving for full fledged entertainers.

Verdict – OK OK, double OK

Rating: 3.5/5