{mosimage}Sandai Kozhi - warring rooster, there can be no other apt title for this movie. Everybody is warring on their own either be the hero Vishal, or "bajaari" heroine Meera Jasmine, or even the villan Lal or senior hero Raj Kiran. When the award winner & choosy Meera Jasmine signs a movie, whole of Kollywood opines that there should be something special in the movie. Sandai Kozhi is no exception with Director Lingusamy getting better in each of his movies. If you see his debut movie "Anandham" and "Sandai Kozhi" together you will never believe that both are from the same man. So much is the different in the treatments.
Storyline is nothing new or novel except rehash of recent hit "Dhool" & "Devar Magan". Vishal goes to his friend Karthik's house in Chidambaram on leave and falls for his prankster sister Meera Jasmine. On his return back to Madurai he takes on the villan Lal, a local rowdy. A humiliated Lal searches for Vishal and realises that finishing Vishal is not an easy task as Vishal is the son of powerful village leader Raj Kiran in Madurai.
{mosimage}Racy... Is Lingusamy your another name? The story is gripping equally in the family oriented first half and action oriented second half. Especially when the story shifts to action, it goes in top gear with the introduction song of Raj Kiran and maintains that tempo till the last shot. This time Lingusamy shifts the milieu to Madurai instead of his favourite Kumbakonam. Don't mind if you are reminded of "Devar Magan" in some scenes, you'll enjoy the movie immensely when you see on screen.
According to me the real heroes of the movie are Cinematographers Jeeva, Neerav Shah & Action designer Kanal Kannan. I normally don't like watching action scenes but this time I saw those action scenes again and again. Especially scenes with Vishal taking on Lal for the first time & rice mundy fight, needless to say - the climax fight. Vishal is really agile and an action star to watch for. Jeeva & Neerav Shah's camera match the speed and tempo of the action scenes, with the barren landscapes of Karaikudi amplifying the intensity. The rustic look of Southern Tamil Nadu lends an authenticity and a "different look" for this ordinary story. If you had travelled towards Madurai, Thirunelveli atleast once, you can surely identify with the looks of Sandai Kozhi. I would say that strength of the movie is its strong local flavour.
Performance wise speaking it is an one man show by Vishal. When I saw the stills first I thought since he being the producer's son, has managed to get into films without that choclate boy looks. But after seeing the movie I should say that nobody else Vishal could have done this movie so convincingly. He fitted to the ordinary looking that too from a "Sandiyar" clan guy, whom you can spot on the streets of Madurai easily, to a perfect "T". He was mindblowing in action sequences and hasn't deviated from that in the name of being an all rounder - just because thats where his strength lies.
{mosimage}Meera Jasmine - a sweet "bajaari (lady rowdy)". In fact it was a two bit role but audiences will have the satisfaction of having her presence through out the movie. After her National Award, this was a conscious effort in the part of Meera Jasmine to prove that performance is not all about serious acting, but being a livewire on screen too. I loved her very much in the theatre scene, she is the "veera" Jasmine and its follow up scene. Once again if you have watched your tutorial college going neighbour carefully, you'll realise how much real was Meera's performance. Another scenes I loved are where Meera acts as if possessed and she mimicing "Kalaingnar". She was fabulous in the "Dhavani Potta..." song and this girl had taken in the role seriously that her body language transmits that vibrancy thorugh out the movie. In the song "Ennamo Nadakkirathe..." which is a male solo, Meera makes her presence felt with the naughty steps like "slow motion" and comical facial expressions.
Lal from Kerala is loud as he is in Malayalam films, but Raj Kiran lends a dignity to that role of a village leader. He is the another hero of this movie. He had the same intensity of Sivaji Ganesan who performed a similiar role in "Devar Magan".
Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja (instead of Lingusamy's regular Vidyasagar) compliments the speed tempo of the movie by his fast music. My favourites are Vijay Yesudas & Shreya Ghosal rendered "Dhavani Potta Deepavali..." and Shaan's "Ennammo Nadakkirathe..". The fast numbers "Mundaasu Suriyane.." and "Ketta Kodukkira Bhoomi.." are nice when watched with visuals.
If you are not a stickler for "messages" and if you love Meera Jasmine, if you admire the narrative structures and different camera angles, then a good experience of movie watching is guaranteed with Sandai Kozhi.
{mosimage}Tidbits: Don't know at what time they chose this name there was constant tiffs throughout the movie making. First the cinematographer Jeeva & Lingusamy fought, so the former replaced with newcomer Neerav Shah, before releasing the movie producer & director washed the dirty linen in public over the remuneration matters. Meera Jasmine was asked whether she would do this movie because Lingusamy wanted an established heroine opposite to rank newcomer Vishal. Since Lingusamy brought Meera to Tamil movies through his movie "Run", Meera agreed with gratitude. Ever since her shots were canned there was a tremendous buzz among the Tamil film industry about her comic timings. Now the local media is elevating her to the leagues of Savithri, Saroja Devi, Sri Devi in terms of livewire on screen.
