Attakasam (Ajith)

Movie:
Attakasam
Director:
Saran
Cast:
Ajit, Pooja, Babu Antony, Sujatha, Haneefa
Cinematographer:
A.Venkatesh
Music:
Bharadwaj
Producer:
Karthikeyan .P




If laughter is the best medicine, then Saran earned his stripes, though at times the comedy is crass with plenty of lewd jokes. Ajit looks sensational as usual and is an absolute delight and is clearly at home playing another double role (the third time). But Attakasam is totally devoid of any originality and director Saran has borrowed liberally from half a dozen films. He has tried to remix that MGR classic Kudiyiruntha Kovil and Ajit’s mannerisms remind you of his role in Villain.
The story is about identical twin brothers – Jeeva (Ajit) a happy-go-lucky driving instructor in Chennai who runs his own driving school and lives with his mother (Sujatha). His sidekicks are Punk (Karnas), an auto driver and Vayyapuri. His twin brother Guru (Ajit) is a rising don in Tuticorin and his best friend is Sulla (Ramesh Kanna). Guru is an angry young man who is seeking vengeance on his mother who had given him in adoption when he was a child. In fact Guru had run away from his foster parents to Tuticorin and become a ‘dada’!

Guru has a dark secret, as he was a witness to his father’s (Nizhalgal Ravi) murder by Mantram (Babu Antony) an underworld don and a real estate shark. Mantram is in search of Guru and has promised the mother that he will not harm Jeeva but due to a crazy mix-up Jeeva lands up in Tutocorin where everybody mistakes him for Guru and later creates tension between the don and his enemies like Samudrakani (‘Pitamagan’ Mahadevan) and Jasper. Finding this as an opportunity to settle scores with his mother, Guru impersonates his twin brother and how all this is sorted out in the end forms the rest of this yarn.

Ajit’s proficient ability to play double roles and the characters wit and one-liners are the saving grace of the film. Pooja is wasted as Swapna, Jeeva’s lover in an insignificant and half-baked role. In fact the lovers fall in love when their dogs are brought together to mate! There is coarse humour as the male dog gulps down Viagra accidentally!! There are plenty of double meaning dialogues which may raise a few laughs among the low-class audience.

The on-screen chemistry between the lead pair is missing and was there any need to picturise the songs in Romania? Bharadwaj songs are nothing much to write about though Unakkenna…Unakkenna…, is the pick of the lot. The driving school sets are tacky and technically the film is shoddy.

The director and script-writer Saran has no original story to say and just lets his maddeningly zany characters indulge in buffoonery in the name of entertainment