Friday Aug 29 2008, Chennai

Jayam Kondaan: Neat entertainer!

Directed by - Kannan

Produced by - Selvi Thyagarajan, T.T.T.Thyaga Saravanan and T.Arjun

Music by - Vidhyasagar

Casts - Vinay, Bhavana, Lekha Washington, Vivek, Santhanam, Kishore etc

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Debutant director Kannan, who has the experience of working with ace director Mani Rathinam, has proved his worth in his first film itself.He has succeeded in providing us with a clean entertainer without killing the logic or reasoning.The narrative is refreshingly natural and the characters are near to reality.Hats off to the debutant director! ‘Jayam Kondaan’ tells you the story of a young Arjun (Vinay), who comes from London to set up a business here.His efforts get jeopardized by some unexpected developments but he is too focused to be bogged down by them.

When he wants to use the money saved by his late father, he finds a stiff competition from a girl (Lekha Washington), who happens to be his step sister.Like Vinay she too has a mission in his life.  She wants to go to USA for higher studies, for which she needs around 20 lakhs.She wants to sell her father’s house but is stopped by her brother, who is her father’s legal heir.This conflict paves way to a relentless fight, in which both are determined to succeed.

The tug of war brings in many operators including the local don Guna (Kishore Kumar), whose arrival brings in more dangerous dimensions to the lives of the main players.Meanwhile, Vinay’s trip to Madurai to sell his father’s house introduces him to Annapoorani (Bhavana) and family.The director tries his best to make the ensuing love a pleasant development in the narrative.Guna’s entry gives a new twist to the tale.Though he does not consider Arjun as his rival, some unexpected incidents put him against the young man and ultimately he wishes to kill Arjun.

Meanwhile, Arjun develops a sort of bondage towards his step-sister and wants to make her dream a reality.How he manages to do it and how he escapes the wrath of the goon form the rest of the story.We have Vivek and Santhanam trying to entertain us with their wits.Then we also have some well-conceived characters like those of Haneefa, Thalaivaasal Vijay, Krishna, and Adhisaya.The director Kannan, who is also the script writer, deserves to be complimented for creating such realistic characters.

Kannan has done well in making the narrative near to reality.He hasn’t resorted to gimmicks in the name of commercial success yet he has brought out an engaging fare.He has conceived some powerful scenes and has executed them well.The dining table incident between Vinay and Bhavana is an excellent example.He has portrayed the human emotions well in many scenes.

One wishes that he could have given more attention to the pace of the movie to make it more interesting.Vinay fits the bill as a middle class youth, who wants to achieve something in his life.He emotes well and handles his role with ease.He scores in romantic scenes as well as the serious ones.Lekha's character stands out among many.

The newcomer has got into the skin of the character and comes out with flying colours.Bhavana does not have much to perform, but she impresses with her pleasant looks and flawless handling of her role.Kishore as Guna is superb.His body language and powerful eyes are quite impressive.The cinematography by Balasubramaniam is spectacular but Vidyasagar fails to impress with his tunes and back ground score.

Overall, ‘Jayam Kondaan’ is a neat family entertainer sans some of the usual commercial ingredients, thanks to the sensitive and smart work by the debutante director.