Rajeshwar Kalisamy’s ‘Kudumbasthan’, starring Manikandan, overloads a dramatic story with laughs, and the results are mixed

The film is about the desperations of a middle-class man. And while comedy is definitely welcome in a serious premise, the screenplay keeps turning to jokes as a crutch, and this affects the story being told. The rest of this review contains spoilers.

In Kudumbasthan, Manikandan plays a middle-class man named Naveen. He is married to Vennila, played by Saanve Megghana. She is studying for her IAS exams, so until that hurdle is cleared, he is the sole breadwinner in the family unit, which also contains his mother and father. Naveen is in and out of jobs, owing to his sense of self-respect. He stands up for a friend who has been wronged, and refuses to apologise for slapping a big-shot client because he knows that he did the right thing. But in a system where money is power, can the powerless afford to have self-respect? Can the moneyless afford to stand up to the men with money? An early scene shows Naveen and Vennila getting married in a register office. A man blesses them with these words: “Inime unga vazhkaiyila vasantha kaathu veesa pogudhu.” He says that their life is going to be like the spring breeze. CUT TO: air filled with dust and pollution, thanks to fast vehicles racing into the premises with the couple’s angry parents.

You can read the rest of the review here:

https://www.galattaplus.com/rajeshwar-kalisamys-kudumbasthan-starring-manikandan-overloads-a-dramatic-story-with-laughs-and-the-results-are-mixed/

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