'Bodinayakanur Ganesan' (Tamil)
Director: O Gnanam
Cast: Harikumar, Arundhati, Ravishankar, Sury, Raja, Baby, Ashwin, Arul, Janavi
A hireling of a thug who does his boss’s bidding; the entry of a girl in his life and his desire to reform; and the ensuing confrontation with the thug is a story we are all familiar with. It’s a tale that has been executed on screen innumerable times. It yet again finds form in ‘Bodinayakanur Ganesan’.
That the plot and narration is quite monotonous and tedious is an understatement. The relationship between Thiruvachi (Ravishankar) and his henchman Ganesan (Harikumar) is a strange one. Ganesan is a frequent jailbird, thanks to Thiruvachi’s machinations. But despite knowing this, Ganesan never retaliates against his boss. The director goes back to their childhood to explain the reason.
Thiruvachi’s father’s harsh behaviour had sown the seeds for the son’s behaviour. Being constantly and unfavourably compared with Ganesan, their servant’s dutiful and academically-inclined son, Thiruvachi had developed a hatred for Ganesan, a feeling which he carried on to his adulthood. It does make us ponder whether a more understanding attitude of the father towards his son would have made Thiruvachi a better person than the criminal he has turned out to be. But the message is lost somewhere in the flippancy of the scenes.
The interplay between characters — during childhood and as adults — is far more interesting.
There is a bit of a humour in the manner in which young Thiruvachi reacts to his father’s taunts and sarcasms. Harikumar cruises through his role with ease.
There are unnecessary scenes to showcase the hero’s prowess in fights and stunts. Ganesan always happens to be at the right place at the right time. Either he is seen fighting a few rowdy folks or saving people from a critical situation. At a scene where a mad man takes the driver’s seat and drives around recklessly while the panic stricken passengers call for help, Ganesan who does a superman dive into the running bus and rescues everyone.
Ganesan’s love interest is Raji (Arundathi). Soon after a series of accidental encounters, Ganesan falls for her. Connecting the lives of the duo to Thiruvachi’s childhood and also theirs, making her the bone of contention between two men, is another clichéd story line.
The climax too follows the expected pattern, where Thiruvachi plays with Ganesan’s weakness, troubles his near ones to get to him. The comic antics of Sury, Ganesan’s friend, fail to take off. There is also a song-dance number for every situation, which becomes a little tedious towards the end. Dance choreographer-turned-hero Harikumar has acted in about six films till date, but apart from his initial flicks (‘Thoothukudi’), the rest haven’t really worked well.
This one too is a passable entertainer, with nothing novel or exciting to offer the audience.