Kottukaali(2024)
Kottukaali has been watched. Tamil cinema has rarely had full blown art house movies. Movies that speak the heart of the director without abiding by the rules and laws of conventional grammar of films. They are just a registration of the director's varied imagination which can be perceived as many ways possible. PS Vinoth Raj is the local international film maker who has opened the door for art house movies in Kollywood. Koozhangal was a distinct piece of work that can raise a lot of questions.
Kottukaali though not as tough or layered as Koozhangal is another eccentric work that takes you on a ride, like literally. The movie starts off with the preparations of a trip to the seer for the exorcism of a girl. We start traveling with the movie just like the characters in it. Kottukaali sucks in you right away with the landscape and the people in it who are just as real as they can get.
Select any village in and around madurai and you can find the characters in the movie in it. Two loud mouthed sisters who care about their brother even if the brother is rugged. The allies of the said brother who continue to complain about their lives and the two relatives who keep speculating on how their life would have been had things been different. The movie is a beautiful yet crude representation of rural lands of Tamil Nadu. From the roads to the people to even the animals, the movie gets everything right.
Moving forward to the story, Kottukaali is simply a road trip movie to the mentioned exorcism of a girl. As any road trip, we get umpteen obstacles and the way each character I reacts makes the journey an interesting and a memorable one.
The screenplay is elaborate. From seeing the auto driver try hard to start his vehicle every time to the way we are shown the way the insect that fell in the eyes is removed, we are shown every detail down to the T. With no music and such immense detail to every scene, the movie is an immersive experience.
Soori as the lead, the brother Pandi and Anna Ben as the girl "possessed" are the only known faces in the movie. Soori has unlocked a new facet to his acting. We have seen him emote and cry and get angry in Viduthalai and Garudan already yet Kottukaali brings out a different soori.
If put simply, he's an angry young man with no limit. He beats women and cusses them without remorse, He's silent for most of the time listening to the bickering of his allies but when he bursts out, you get scared. He's ruthless and he's extremely hateable. The silence following the outburst and the reaction post that, Soori is and has become a full blown hero material who can hold the screen so well.
Anna Ben has a single dialogue and all she does is stare and react to the lunacy that she's forced to be a part of. She is wonderful in the role and as the title says, she's adamant and it has been portrayed so well.
Technically, the movie has no music. They took it a bit too seriously that even the SK Productions which used to play with Doctor BGM was without any background score. Yet, the movie is filled with sounds. The sounds of auto, bike, walking and a lot more are captured so effectively and make a lively viewing. Cinematography of the movie as mentioned explores the rural madurai to the fullest extent and it's so pleasing to see the visuals unadulterated.
The movie is never boring. We get to hear the stories of every character. Their lives, their relationships and their belief system that they hold so close that it's baffling how stupid can the humans can be. Kottukaali in abstract is a visual representation of the entire idiocy in the name of the caste system and the superstition that people blindly follow. It makes you laugh, wonder and even feel sad a bit to the way the people are brought up with such strong yet stupid beliefs.
The movie left me with the thought that it's not the girl who's possessed but the people around her are by the age old beliefs that there's no exorcism available to be rid of.
~𝗔𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮, 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗹.
