A Laugh Riot with no takeaways - Kudumbasthan Movie Review
- FC Team
- Jan 27
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 28
Kudumbasthan, directed by Nakkalites fame Rajeshwar Kaliswamy, starring Manikandan and Saanve Megghana, is a relatable fam-com. Starting from the faces, the house, the dialogues, the film's lifeline is the irony of chasing money and losing peace as a bargain. A glorified family drama that shows the life of an average middle class breadwinner.
The movie starts on a high note with Naveen and Vennila on the run to get married against their family's wishes. The end the sequence with the newly married couple making a promise to themselves that they will lead a happy life and prove their families wrong. We almost assumed the film is spin-off of Sharath Kumar's Suryavamsam. Rather, Kudumbasthan took a realistic road. Except the drunk trio who played the role of comedians - they failed to make us laugh till the very end.
The whole of the first half was dedicated to Naveen's dramatic antics to hide the truth of him losing his job, from his family. The movie brought to light the case of loan apps offering instant loans and the aftermath of the providers contacting the family members to arm-twist the borrower into paying back.
Naveen accounting every grain in house, to engaging in a rooster fight to buy chicken for a Sunday lunch and losing his sleep over the myriad of expenses his family piles on him was honest to the bone. The cold war between the brother and his wealthy brother in law, played by Guru Somasundaran, was the perfect seasoning to this family drama.
As much as the audience laughed out loud at Naveen's misery in the first half, they were eager to see what is going to happen next when his biggest fear comes to life. Slowly we realised that the movie was a pack of hilarious scenes put together with a weak storyline.
The viewers were not ready for the tables to stay put as Naveen was caught in a web of loans once again after starting his own business. The scene where he hides in a public restroom to hide from the financiers touched a nerve.
Naveen's meltdown in the end roused an applause from the theatre as it is the life of every working man's pent up fear of being considered worthless without a job. The reality movies fail to show us.
As we kept our fist tight and held on to see his Big Winning Moment, the film reached its solemn end with Naveen re-joining his old workplace and his wife giving birth to a baby girl. The movie ended abruptly with him making a promise to his child that he will always be an honest man, unlike the rest of "them" who wear masks.
As much as it is right to say that proving anything to anyone is needless, the means of coming to this conclusion is riddled with baseless drunk comedy, a string of scenes where the audience had to endure Naveen trying and failing multiple times. And after all of it, he walks back to being an employee, doomed to live a life with no escape. Masking all of it in the garb of becoming a new dad.
We do appreciate the brutal truth of this end, but we are sad for the audience who have nothing to take back. They saw a man who looks like them, who lives their life and walks back home a defeated man. There is misery in company, in knowing there is no hope really.