Vadacurry (2014)

Vadacurry shares a characteristic with two other films that we have seen this year. As in Pulivaal, the plot is set in motion after the hero steals a mobile phone; and, like the hero of Damaal Dumeel, this act of taking what is not his gets him into trouble with criminals. Sathish (Jai) has just begun his career as a medical representative. But his archaic mobile phone is a constant source of embarrassment. When we first see him, he is waiting in a clinic to meet the doctor and the awkward conversations he has with two of his friends on the phone are heard by everyone around him. On the advice of his loudmouth friend Karikaalan (RJ Balaji), he tries to get an expensive mobile phone but can only afford a cheapskate "Korean set" as a replacement. With its blaring ringtone, the phone only lands him in even more trouble. His sister-in-law (Kasturi) uses the phone to scare her child into eating, his friends use it to make him the butt of their jokes and he is even threatened by a petty shop owner for using such a phone near his shop.

Wanting to put an end to this humiliation, Sathish steals an iPhone and starts flaunting it. However, his auto-driver brother's ( Aruldoss) honesty forces him to introspect his action and the young man decides to return the phone to its actual owner. But that only lands him in trouble with another medical rep, Dhayalan (Ajay Raj), who is tracking the phone's mysterious owner to solve his personal problems.

Director Saravana Rajan coasts through the first half with the motormouth RJ Balaji, whose kitchen sink brand of comedy results in many laughs and quite a few misses. Then, there is the mandatory romantic track between Sathish and Naveena (Swati's performances has shades of her role from Idharukuthaane Aasaipattai Balakumara, especially when she acts the nagging girlfriend). Interestingly, in a commendable scene which follows the lively song Nenjukulla Nee, the director boldly acknowledges the amount of stalking that good-looking girls (and the heroines in our films) are subjected on a daily basis. But Rajan comes from the Venkat Prabhu school of filmmaking and like his guru, he doesn't seem to like letting things get too serious and so, offsets this sort-of profound moment with humour in the next scene. And when Sathish is desperately trying to get himself out of the mess, we get lighter scenes where RJ Balaji, who has been kidnapped as a hostage, befriends his abductors. Even the graveness of the villain's crime — repacking expired medicines and selling them to the unsuspecting public — isn't allowed to weigh down on the plot. There are other Venkat Prabhu touches as well. Like the manner in which the revelations are narrated; Rajan shows us who the villain is and then cuts to shots of the villain's previous actions (not surprisingly, the editor is Praveen KL, who has cut all of Venkat's films). The director also shares Venkat's fondness for casting friends in cameo roles. Here, in addition to Jai, we find Ajay Raj and Venkat himself in a minor role; then, there are the guest appearances by Premgi Amaren and Mahat Raghavendra.

And, yet, despite the flair, the film feels uneven and the strain to maintain a lighthearted tone makes one think that nothing is really at stake here. And after all the mystery around the villain, we are provided with someone who is less convincing given the build-up. The plot could have made into a great black comedy, a satire on our materialistic lifestyle, but there is hardly any sting here.