Cliched Political Thriller but works well! - Kodi 2016

R. S Durai Senthilraja's Kodi 2016 is a true commercial film in every way,  all the elements of required for a commercial film are present - fight, romance, emotions etc etc... All said the film is unique in an indescribable way. Might be the cast or the story of the film something makes this unlikely flick work. Political thrillers are quite uncommon in kollywood,  The last film which had a political genre was Madras and in my opinion for this genre to work, cast is one of the important aspect, making a commercial film in this genre which has elements like comedy, drama, emotion, romance is quite difficult. After seeing Kodi, I had this mixed feeling,  the film is a typical commercial film , similar to what dhanush did 5 years back in the line of Padikathavan, Mappilai etc), All proved to be quite unsuccessful . Kodi however works in an unexplainable way, May be it is because of the narrative or the cast itself.

Short Gist:

Kodi and Anbu ( Both Played by Dhanush) are twins. Karunas plays Kodi’s father and his suicide in front of his son makes Kodi pursue a career in Politics. The story pans to his present life as a youth leader of the political party. How his life ends is the remainder of the film.

The narrative of the film as compared to typical commercial flicks is mellowed down, there is no loud noises during the introduction of the leads, rather more focus is given on the script and performances. At first Trisha is portrayed as typical heroine in the film but later we realize the importance given to her character, as good as the protagonist  in the film. Kudos to the director for creating a character such as Rudra and casting Trisha for the role, it is difficult to perceive such a role being done be any other actresses, more than the glam quotient for this role, the requirement of well known person becomes an important criteria, Trisha completely justifies this character and I might add that it would have been better if there is a bit of more emotion brought to her character.

Dhanush as both Kodi and Anbu is perfect, Actually there is not much of an acting scope in this film for him, his character in the film does the work needed. It is just a walk in the park for him. The background score and the music becomes a defining aspect of the film. I think this is what sets the film completely apart from all the other films dhanush has ever done. Right from all the five songs to the background score, the music makes the film more rustic and offbeat even though it has all the commercial elements

Though I expected the film to end quite differently, and in spite of all the clichéd kollywood elements Kodi stands as a winner. I would not say that dhanush's character – Kodi as one which will be remembered in the future as a politician, For me personally, Kokki Kumar’s five minute speech at the end of Pudhupettai when the credit starts to roll is all what I would remember if one says Dhanush's as a politician.

Star Cast

Dhanush, Trisha, SA Chandrasekar, Karunas, Anupama