Edhiri
"Edhiri"... a run-of-the-mill storyline.
A TOUGH hero, a docile heroine, her cruel father ... and you know the rest. Madhavan who joined the action bandwagon with "Run," comes out with another in the same genre in Damini Enterprises' "Edhiri." The hero adopting the stunt mode is understandable — his earlier "Run" had sprinted its way to success. K. S. Ravikumar dons the mantle of screenplay writer-director for "Edhiri."
Subramani (Madhavan) is forced to pose as a goonda and scare the life out of four rebellious students who are tenants on the first floor of Natarajan's (`Delhi' Ganesh) house. But another crisis arises to solve which Subramani unwittingly kidnaps Priya (Sadha), the underworld don's (`Fefsi' Vijayan) daughter. Now her fiancé, a police assistant commissioner, (Raguman) is also gunning for him. The hero's tackling of the two-pronged attack and his annihilation of the enemies that form the rest of the film could have been handled much more crisply.
Career wise "Edhiri" is a very important film for Madhavan. You can make out that he's worked hard. With the right mix of humour, anger, courage and romance Madhavan is convincing. But as far as hairstyle and dress sense go, he could opt for things that suit him better. Contrastingly, his costume and appearance in the song sequences are appealing. Sadha's expressions show maturity. Raguman, the erstwhile hero, is a new addition to the list of cinema villains. His voice (dubbed?) however, is a major irritant. Kaniha is cute as `Delhi' Ganesh's daughter Gayatri. Vivek is back in action with his typical brand of humour, which is enjoyable for the most part. And matching him in humour is `Delhi' Ganesh — as the ever-suspecting, possessive father he's adorable.
Just one scene, but you can enjoy `Crane' Manohar's comedy. But why should Meera Krishnan appear in such insipid roles? It is another short, sacrificing role for Thennavan as the police inspector — the actor is not used as often as he should be. The duets are one too many. But the one song sequence that is intelligently used to move the story forward is "Mudhal Mudhalaga ... " — a melody set to music by Yuvan Shankar Raja and sung by Hariharan. The editing of the sequence (K. Thanikachalam) warrants special mention. The percussion in the sequence when Madhavan first enters Triplicane to take on the ruffians, is so loud that they make your heart thump. How could the sound engineer have missed it? Sparks fly in `Kanal' Kannan's action choreography — but for the most part it is unbelievable. G.K.'s sets are unnaturally commodious at certain points (the Assistant Commissioner's house, for example).
Kamalesh Kumar's story is implausible to a large extent. Director Ravikumar could have rectified matters with a deft screenplay — strangely he doesn't. That's why towards the end "Edhiri" makes you restless.
MALATHI RANGARAJAN
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