Cast: Vinay, Bhavana, Lekha Washington, Kishore Kumar, Vivek, Deepa Venkat, Santhanam, 'Nizhalgal' Ravi, VMC Haneefa
Music: Vidyasagar
Direction: R. Kannan
Debutant director Kannan's 'Jeyamkondan' starts off a bit dramatically but soon gets back on track. It's not the usual Tamil film where the hero is shown as an all-powerful person who is so generous and sacrificing: here, the hero is shown as an ordinary mortal. The screenplay is set in a natural manner wherein a local dada enters the property dispute in a family and endeavours to take control of the proceedings.
The story revolves around three central characters played by Vinay, Lekha Washington and Bhavana. Vinay, an enterprising youth who has just returned from London wants to start a small-scale industry. Lekha Washington is a bubbly girl whose lifetime ambition is to go to America to pursue her higher studies. There is another local dada who wants to avenge an insult that he suffered sometime back (debutant Kishore Kumar in a powerful role). Annapoorani (Bhavana), who falls in love with Vinay, adds to the curious sequences in the film.
Kannan, a protege of noted director Maniratnam, makes it known in many sequences that he has a special liking towards his guru. The film doesn't have any unexpected twists and turns, forced in many films to sustain viewers' interest. Still, it makes good viewing.
The clash between Vinay and Lekha and the way dada Kishore Kumar enters their lives, etc. have all been depicted in the most natural manner. The two deaths in the film and the last-minute twist in the climax smell in a typical Tamil-movie style and could have been avoided.
Even small characters like house-owner VMC Haneefa, tenant 'Nizhalgal Ravi' and the next-door Brahmin lady, are all paid deep attention and it shows. The house, people, their dresses and body languages, are all very natural The way Lekha pays the bill after a heated conversation with her brother Vinay, the way she reacts after her change of heart in the climax, are all depicted in an engrossing manner with least dramatics.
The film, however, is not without its share of flaws. First, it's slow-paced, second, the brother-sister sentimental scenes have gone a bit overboard. The typically middle-class bred Vinay takes on a different 'avatar' in the film's climax which is very filmy indeed.
The way the love between the lead pair grows is not shown convincingly enough. The comedy track of Vivek and Santhanam only irritates the viewers; especially Santhanam goes overboard when he ridicules handicapper persons.
Kannan's screenplay, dialogues and direction have all excelled to make it a pretty decent film. He hasn't relied on any 'flesh' power; indeed, he has only relied on fresh power of debutants like him to deliver such a noteworthy and enjoyable fare. Had he made the film more interesting, this would have fared more than it has done now.
'Jeyamkondan' would hit the bull's eye in the box-office!with its well packaged treatment.