JODI MOVIE REVIEW
by Forgottenbest

Sony Orient's Jodi is another Kadhalukku Mariyadhai wannabe following closely and having the exact same storyline as Vasanth's Poovellam Kaettupaar. Even though the movie has an assembly-line look to it, director Praveen Kanth's (Rakshagan) handling makes it a relatively painless affair.

The storyline-Kannan (Prasanth), a musical instrument technician (!), falls head over heels in love with Gayathri (Simran). Gayathri attends the local music school-her career choice being dictated by the need to setup obligatory showdowns between the lead pair! As always Gayathri's hate blossoms to love after a couple of song and dance sequences- one of them at the usual "music competition". Venkittu (Vijaikumar) and Rudramurthy (Nasser) play the fathers of Kannan and Gayathri and complete the assembly line. Venkittu is a music critic firmly believing in his right to decide his future. Rudramurthy, a marriage registrar, is the anti-cupid incarnate with a flair for stopping love marriages that come to him. Kannan and Gayathri decide to trade places in their respective families to win their hearts- a very original idea indeed! Unlike Kathalukku Mariyathai, there are no surprises on the outcome of their crusade.

The director's light-veined screenplay keeps the movie moving at a good pace. He has used the humor of a host of funny-men to good use-Ramesh Kanna shining in particular. He could have avoided the vulgar depiction of middle-aged Ambika's pining for the hero, just for some cheap laughs. There is also some semblance of variety in the characters of Vijaykumar and Nasser. Eventhough its quite clear where the movie is headed to, a few surprise twists towards the end make the journey to the inevitable somewhat engaging. A.R. Rahman has come up with 5 foot-tapping numbers-the songs preventing the plot from sagging and falling under the weight of its cliches.

As for the performances, Prasanth rises above the material and gives yet another breezy performance. A ravishing Simran emotes with ease and parades her umblical beauty in the song sequences. Vijaykumar and Nasser reprise their roles from PKP. Isha Gopikar and Ramesh Arvind make important cameo appearences. Arthur Wilson's chiaroscuros are quite pleasing. Sabesh-Murali's background score suites the mood of the scenes very well.

Jodi's sum is better than its parts. But there really can be no excuses for choosing such worn out parts in the first place! A very marginal thumbs down. 2.5 stars out of 4

When one goes to see a movie from Rakshagan-fame director Pravin Kaanth, one does appropriately lower one's expectations several notches down. However, let me warn you folks, no amount of mental pre-conditioning can adequately prepare you for the onslaught that the director resorts to on your senses in this comedy-cum-entertainer flick. If you have not left the theatre in a hurry in the middle of the movie, you do get to see some sort of a recovery in the last one hour (or so) of the movie.

The first half of the movie is like a kichchadi. There are just too many characters, too many things happening at the same time, no coherence from one scene to the next, comedy in the poorest taste (mixed with vulgarity, and often falling flat on the audience), songs that look like they have been inserted in the last minute as an afterthought, etc, etc. Prashant looks like he is in a stupor most of the time. The only relief is Simran who mesmerises the audience with her beauty.

The movie does recover toward the last one hour or so. There is a little bit of story here which is not too bad. Janakaraj's comedy is nice, so also Ramesh Kanna's, esp. the way he is made to learn to respect love by Dhamu & co.

ARR should do some serious thinking about how he goes about accepting movies, not that Jodi songs are great shakes or anything -- a very average affair, in fact.

If I have to compare Jodi with Poovellaam Kettuppaar, I may still have to give the edge to Jodi because of the last one hour where it looks like some sort of sanity had finally prevailed with the director and the crew.

Quite a forgettable movie!! Recommended only for the die-hard Tamil movie fans who have developed an immunity to attacks by our directors on their intelligence.