COMALI

Pradeep Ranganathan | Jayam Ravi, Kajal Aggarwal | 2019 | Comedy

Comali – Jayam Ravi’s 24th film, a comedy drama directed by debutant Pradeep Ranganathan. From a short film of forty thousand to a full-fledged feature film with a mighty cast and crew, Pradeep has pulled off a decent show. When things fall on the right place the film comes out exactly how the film maker wants it to be, probably Comali is one standing example and a dream debut for a debutant. It is always difficult to pull off a comedy drama than a thriller and a rom-drama, timing and situation should go hand in hand and should support the artist to exploit the screen space without insulting or hurting any section of the audience. Regarding this, Comali is definitely a winner for this Independence Day. 

For a Debutant director to get all comforts and do whatever he has in mind on screen is definitely not that easy and the trust and faith across all cast and crew is what that has delivered the film on screen. Writing wise the film hasn’t been that strong yet the screenplay and later improvisations have patched up all those, from a short film to such a feature film, the film maker definitely deserves what he gets today. Pradeep has shown his smartness in recreating the 90s setup and connecting all draggy sentimental segments in the first half to the story in the later segments of the screenplay, adds on a wholesome experience for a varied set of audience. In an era of genre specific movies, audience specific film making in Kollywood, Pradeep has gone back and made sure a complete U film has its meaning and has covered all set of audience. Dialogues were crisp and catchy while screen portrayal was vibrant. The whole climate scene was pure goose bumps for every Chennaite. 

The whole plot revolves around Jayam Ravi, who stays in COMA for sixteen long years. Jayam Ravi’s thirst to choose different experimental scripts is very evident in every single frame. Be it a seventeen-year-old guy, or a thirty-two-year-old man, he does it with ease. His effortless acting and flawless variations are the biggest strength for the film. Humour, Sentiment, Romance, Action or Innocence, his convincing performance has given a notch higher impact than what the scene would have. Samyuktha Hedge and Yogi Babu’s performance in the flashback school scenes were nostalgic recreations for all 90s kids. Every single detailing and memory hit the audience perfectly. Samyuktha’s charming acting and Jayam Ravi’s young look creates a romantic aurora that follows us even after the film. On the other hand, Kajal, Shah Ra and K S Ravikumar were added positives for the film, who stand as strong backing in the second half. 

Technically Comali is one of the strongest ever commercial film in K’Town. Cinematography was clean and creative, each shot divisions seemed vibrant and brought the story one notch closer to the audience, Cinematographer Richard M. Nathan’s work would forever be praised. Art Department work has exactly given what the script demands, be the set works for Paisa Nota song or the 90s set up for the flashback, perfection and detailing were commendable. Editor Pradeep Raghav’s cuts were crisp and apt for the screenplay. Those connecting shots used for recreating the past was really innovative. As usual Comali is yet another feather in Hiphop Thamizha Aadhi’s hat. He once again proves his strength in commercial film BGM and songs through Comali. Attracting audience from six sixty has helped the film to gain the popularity and hype. Comali – known the real Coma-li.