 7/G Rainbow colony
Director: Selvaraghavan
Cast: Ravikrishna, Soniya Agarwal, Suman Shetty, Vijayan, Sudha, Savita
Prabhune, Ravikumar.
 You give a big hit with your debut
venture, the expectations are high, and so is the onus of delivering a hit yet again. And then you try a little too hard to repeat the earlier success, and you falter. Selvaraghavan, who was focused in scripting his two earlier films (Thulluvatho Ilamai, Kadhal Kondein), had known exactly what he wanted then, the situations to be included, and the commercial ingredients that would seem a relevant part of his story. It was a focused script backed by a confident, narrative style.
But in '7/g....' missing is the crisp narration and focus. The screenplay meanders, the narrative style is jerky, the situations seeming like they were thrust into the narration as after-thoughts. Also the hangover of his earlier films is clearly evident. It centers round some youths staying in a colony, wayward,
aimless, thick-skinned and insensitive to the feelings of parents and neighbours. A lot of those typical wayward 'Boys'-style scenes are here too (it carries an A certificate) in a milder way.. so it's not like we're getting to see anything new or different.
One of the youths Kathir falls for new neighbour Anita. The girls' family trusting her in Kathir's family's safe-keeping when they go out of station, when they knew him to be a drunkard, spoilt youth, is a bit strange! Anita at first is irritated by his unabashed wooing of her, but slowly thaws and tries to bring a focus and a meaning to his life. The ending doesn't touch a chord anywhere.
The scene where Anita in a hotel room persuades Kathir to spend the night with her, looks a little contrived, like the director was trying too hard to make it all look natural and spontaneous. A couple of scenes are enjoyable for their sheer humour and realism. Like the one where Kathir climbs up Anita's bedroom window and tries to persuade her to give him a chance. And the one in the terrace where Kathir pleads for acceptance, alternately telling her 'no need to love me..just be a friend' and then '...but try to love me...'. the naivity and the confusion of the youth convincingly projected here.
Selvaraghavan's expertise in bringing the best out of his artistes is evident here too. His efforts in projecting Ravikrishna (his home production) in a tolerantly acceptable way is evident throughout. But strangely the debutant hero's dialogue delivery and voice modulation is uncannily similar to that of Dhanush's. Seems like Soniya performs well only in a Selvaraghavan film. She's projected in a very appealing way, as in 'Kadhal kondein', a pretty face that can deliver if given the right guidance. Look out for Suman Shetty, as the hero's friend, endearing with his cute antics.
'7/g....' will be a let-down to those who loved Selvaraghavan's earlier film.
Malini Mannath
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