Film-Kurangu Pedal
Director- Kamalakannan
Cast-Kali Venkat, Santhosh Velmurugan, Raghavan, Gnyanasekhar, Selvam, Mani, Angurasu, Prasanna Balachandran, Jenson Diwakar,Dhakshana, Savithri, Chella.
Set in the 1980’s, this rural saga depicts a boy Maari’s determination to learn to ride a cycle, despite his father kandasamy’s (Kali venkat) aversion to it. What follows is the conflict that arises between the duo, Maari going through various misadventures as he sets out to fulfill his desire. The plot is an adaptation of the short story ‘cycle’ written by Rasi Azhagappan.
The film apart from offering some heartwarming moments and some amusing ones, is a nostalgic trip to the past, when life was simpler and little things mattered.
The early moments depict Maari’s ( santhosh, aptly cast) surreptitious activities as he tries to collect the amount needed to hire a cycle from the rental shop run by a former ‘military’ man (Balachandran). Maari begs, borrows, steals and even indulges in some street-side gambling. At a point his friends too desert him for their more affluent friend Neethi (Raghavan), a show-off who had bought a new cycle, promising each a ride. The innocence of childhood with rivalries and jealousies forgotten in a moment- like Neethi patching up with Maari over a couple of poppins during their race to the hill top – are captured with realism.
The narrative a tad sluggish in the earlier part, peps up as the story progresses. The interactions between a drunkard (Jenson) and the military man generate some amusing moments, Jenson reveling in his act. Hilarious are the scenes where he takes jibes at the man’s ‘military’ background.
Its self realisation for Kandasamy, when Maari reprimanded by him, opens up with some some home truths about parenting. There are some fine performances from the cast. A dependable Kali Venkat essays Kandasamy with efficiency. The child actors have all fitted in suitably.
With films revolving around children being rare on screen, ‘Kurangu Pedal’ (112 minutes), a heartwarming saga with a feel good flavour, is worth a watch.
Malini Mannath
–
Malini Mannath 