Rajni Magic And A Touching Tale of Friendship
As the title suggests, 'Kuselan' reminds us strongly of the legendary friendship between Kuselan and Lord Krishna from the epic Mahabharat. The story revolves around a poverty-ridden Balakrishnan (Pasupathy) and his childhood friend Ashok Kumar (Rajnikanth). The core story is about the incidents that follow when Ashok, the superstar of Kollywood, visits Balu's place to shoot for one of his films.
The film unfolds with the barber Balu's shop run in a small town where he leads a life of penury along with his wife Sridevi (Meena) and three children.
News of superstar's visit to the village spreads like wildfire; the people and Balu are brimming with excitement to meet the man of their dreams. Balu could hardly go near Ashok - now the superstar - due to the heavy cordon of security thrown around the larger-than-life star.
Balu makes repeated attempts to meet Ashok, mainly because of the relentless pressure applied on him by the school authorities, his wife and Kuppusamy. Each time, he unfailingly gets humiliated and insulted by the police and the unit members. The story is about how the all meeting of the friends take place.
The amazingly practical and moving story, written by Sreenivasan for 'Katha Parayumpol' in Malayalam, has been adapted deftly in Tamil by director P. Vasu to suit the needs and aspirations of millions of Rajni fans. Vasu has tactically taken advantage of the magnetic aura that seemingly surrounds Rajni and his unmatched screen presence to suture a 'different' Rajni film.
Whenever Balu's attempt to meet the star comes a cropper, the expectation of his meeting with Rajni grows in the audience's hearts. The incomparable friendship that bonds the star and the barber has been depicted in the most natural manner in a stunning climax scene.
Thankfully, Vasu hasn't gone overboard in planning the length of the movie: it's not boring, the characters have a strong base and more than anything else, it is compelling. 'Kuselan', sans violence and obscenity and full of lively and practical characters, could very well be termed as another feather in Rajni's cap. The only minus point in the film appears to be the lack of 'interest' in scenes preceding the superstar's on-screen arrival.
For superstar Rajnikanth, who plays himself in the movie, it's just another day at Office; he has made full use of his amazing dressing sense, youthful looks and a challenging script to deliver a stunning performance. Though Rajni appears on screen only after 40 minutes after the movie starts, there won't be any regrets among his fans for sure
The 'actor' in Rajni is more than evident in the sequence at the school-day function where he breaks down into tears when speaking about his childhood days. Pasupathy, who emotes without even uttering a single word here, has done an excellent job. Basically, Pasupathy's characterization by the director deserves special mention.
Rajni appears unbelievably younger in rich and typically Rajni-style costumes: he seems to have left his peers out of sight when it comes to dressing. Not only that, acting-wise, he has treated this not as a 'guest' appearance and has given an amazing performance, especially in the concluding sequence.
Pasupathy, one of the most talented actors around in Kollywood, once again wins the hearts of the viewers with his measured but appropriate expressions.You name it he reveals it at the drop of a hat. Meena has also done her part admirably; it's not her fault that her appearance hardly looks like that of a poverty-ridden woman while Nayantara, who plays herself sizzle opposite superstar.
Vadivelu manages to tickle one or two of our funny bones; he simply rocks in the sequence when he finally gets to meet the superstar.
Livingston, Santhana Bharathy and Prabhu, in the role of a Police officer, have all done their roles with sincerity.
Music director G.V. Prakashkumar, described by Rajni as a 'mixture of Ilaiyaraja and A.R. Rehman, shines in a duet song and the 'Cinema Cinema' song.
Vasu has again hit the bull's eye when it comes to providing wholesome entertainment!