Kuppy - Review

By: Settu Shankar
Monday, April 16, 2007
Making a film based on a sensational event when the whole national grieves, like the murder of a former Prime Minister of India, is always an acid test for a director. Very few have succeeded in this test. Director AMR Ramesh is one among them. Right from the very first scene, the director proves his mental agility, giving a clear treatment to this movie. Kudos to A.M.R. Ramesh, the director of the movie, for his unbiased view throughout the film. The dialogues in particular, are simple and make everybody think for a while. An example:

Ranganath: "Master, don't you feel that the murder of our leader in this soil is wrong?"

Sivarasan: "Yes... it was a great mistake. We lost the moral support of India due to this murder!"

The movie starts from the next day of Rajiv's assasination. The assassins Sivarasan, Subha and his team have escaped to Bangalore by a petrol tanker and taken shelter on the outskirts of the city. Ranganath, a Bangalore resident, helps them without being aware of their background. After knowing about the fact, there is no way for him to step back from his help. Finally they get a house as their hide- out.After 21 days of the murder, the entire group gets surrounded by the Bangalore Police and the commandos. But before getting caught by the police, the militants take cyanide. The director, Ramesh, has given the script a mature treatment, and has made an engrossing two-hour film. The film has already become a mega hit in Karnataka in the name of Cyanide. Kuppy is the dubbed version of the same film.

Ravi Kale, Avinash, Rangayana Raghu and Malavika are tailor-made for the characters they have portrayed. Ravi, (a Marathi actor), has performed the role of Sivarasan well while Malavika of Anni fame steals the show as Subha. Rangayana has donned the role of Ranganath, who provides shelter to the militants. Cast in the role of Ranganathan's wife is Tara, a national -award winning actress. She has successfully re-created the horror and trauma of a housewife, shocked at the instance of dreaded terrorists staying in her house. Nasser and Avinash have played the role of investigation officers Karthikeyan and Kempiah well.

The last 20 days of the human bombs - Sivarasan, Subha and their team, their attempts to cross the border of India, and the hot chase by the Special Investigation team to nab them, forms the crux of this movie. The director has not gone overboard anywhere. He has not tried to dramatise the events and seems to have stuck to the news that appeared in the media then.

Rathnavelu's camera is another major highlight. He captures the emotions of the ultras well. Sandeep Chowta's re-recording gives pace to the script. Don't miss the opportunity of watching a good movie.