Inime Naangathaan - Review

By: Settu Shankar
Thursday, September 27, 2007

Inime Naangathaan is surely a novel effort by debutant director Venky Babu and the first animated non-mythological movie, with a 2K resolution, on par with the international standards. An entertainer for people of all age-groups, the movie is a challenge for even Hollywood animation films with its strong technical background. The director has rendered an entertainer woven around four prominent characters - Vichu, Varadhu, Vaithi and Govind. He conveys a strong message through this tale which runs for 93 minutes!

The highlight of the film is maestro Ilayaraja's catchy tunes and excellent background scores!

Vichu, Varadhu, Vaithi and Govind are four friends and they earn their livelihood doing some local musical programmes like 'katcheri'. They want to become rich and famous in a short period without doing any hard work. An old lady advises them to meet a Swamiji, residing on a hill, who could help them become rich overnight. All of them go to meet the Swamiji. He agrees to help them, but on one condition -- they should retrieve a holy Rudhraksha which fell into a deep cave. The four friends set out to the cave where they meet a colorful character from the sea, a gold palace, and a lot of wealth. After seeing gold and diamonds, the friends become greedy and jealous. What happens then is the interesting climax of the movie.

What make the animation characters worthy of watching with more interest is the dubbing by actors Pandu, Vasu Vikram, M.S. Baskar and Maran. Pandu and Vasu Vikram, in particular, steal the show with their dynamic voices.

The director should have avoided the portrayal of the characters with the symbols of a particular religion and community. One could easily identify the characters with their names like Vichu, Vaithi etc...

Maestro Ilayaraja's music is a big asset to the film. 'Unnai Kel…', 'Oru Murai Kettal…' songs are meaningful with soothing tunes. Dialogues by Venky Babu make the movie a delight to watch.

The film is a welcome change from the routine Kollywood action or romantic movies.

A must watch film for all age groups!

Credits:
Cast: Animated Characters Vichu, Varathu, Vaithi and Govind.
Music: Maestro Ilayaraja
Written and Directed by: Venky Babu
Producer: Sridevi
PRO: Nikil Murugan