'Doo' (Tamil)
Director: Sriram Padmanabhan
Cast : Sanjay, Nakshatra, Sangitha Bhat, Urvasi, Rajesh, Jagan, Jeeva, Natraj
‘Doo’, a film on love, romance and break-up, appears to be a promising work by the debutant director, Sriram Padmanabhan.
‘Doo’ follows the rollercoaster love affair of a young couple, who go through a transition of doubts and uncertainties, misunderstandings and ego hassles in their relationship. A lighthearted entertainer, the film is scripted and directed by debutant Sriram Padmanabhan, who has apprenticed with various directors.
The director, who is comfortable in the milieu that he has chosen, has maintained an urban youthful feel throughout his narration.
The mutual attraction between Vasanth (Sanjay of ‘Mundhinam Parthene’), who works in a government office, and Swapna an IT employee, has been well brought out by the actors. She is richer than the hero. But the director fortunately never makes this an issue between the lovers. It’s the behaviour and character of the duo that causes the problem.
Blunt and forthright, Swapna minces no words when she doesn’t like something that Vasanth did. She is oblivious of the hurt she is causing him. For instance, when he gifts her a puppy as a birthday gift, she rebuffs saying, “I hate dogs, I used to stone them when I was a kid”, or later when he gifts a sari in his favourite blue colour, she rejects them outright, “I hate blue!”
The squabbles between the lovers and their making-up are depicted realistically. The dialogue and situations have a natural flow here.
Sanjay lends conviction to his role, and is comfortable in the fight-dance sequence also. Nakshatra (daughter of actress Sumitra) making her debut in this film, essays Swapna with understanding, bringing out the nuances of the character impressively. Actors like Rajesh (Swapna’s dad) and Urvashi (Vasanth’s mother) have tried to make the best of their minimal roles. Vasanth’s easy relationship with his mother and sister has been brought out well. For instance, when he brings the girls — Swapna and Anu (Sangitha) home, his mom views them as potential daughters-in-law, generate some light moments.
The relationship between Vasanth and Anu is ambiguous in its etching. Vasanth had helped Anu during a crisis, and the duo had soon struck an easy friendship. This having happened during one of his break-up phases with Swapna, and Anu being portrayed more as his type, will let us think that Vasanth was moving closer to Anu during the rebound. But then the director suddenly changes track, and Anu is unceremoniously dispensed with from the narration. And Sangitha who was getting comfortable with her role, suddenly has it cut short.
On the flip side again, the narration is inconsistent and jumpy. The ‘friends’ group hovering constantly around Vasanth, is a boring threesome; only a few of the comic antics work. The rest fall flat.
The songs (debutants Abhishek-Lawrence) are peppy, but their placements act as speed breakers to the narration. There are forced-in fights scenes where the hero gets to bash up dozen goons single-handedly. The director, who has tackled the blow-hot-blow-cold love affair adeptly, could have put in more efforts to make the rest of the script equally interesting.
Despite its minor flaws, ‘Doo’ is a promising work from a debutant filmmaker.