Finally saw ‘Kaadhal’ after every other person I’ve met told me to watch it.
And once I did, the heart felt heavy, had a lump in the throat and I just didn’t have anything to say. And I guess that speaks volumes about the film.
Much has been written about the storyline of poor mechanic boy-meets-rich school girl and falls in love. You might think its a beaten-to-death plot if you haven’t seen the film but the freshness it oozes has to be seen to be believed.
What I loved most about the film: How director Balaji Sakthivel makes you connect with every character and empathise with their emotions and yet brings out the paradox of love. Love, when the wrong seems so right and the right seems so wrong too. Love it or hate it, that feeling of love makes you do things you wouldn’t even dream of doing.
Which is why Balaji’s film comes as a brutal reality check on the subject.
There is honesty in every frame, in establishing every character and intent. There is no stereotyped evil father — just a man who loves his daughter so much that he wants her to be happily settled with someone who can provide her the comforts she is used to. There is no taking on or fighting the parents, the girl does love her parents as much and still asks the boy to elope with her.
The film is a documentary on love with the realism that captures its fine subtleties, the nuances of body language and the freshness of life of two people in love and their bitter-sweet pangs of growing up and trying to live together. The moments are too many, they are heart warming, and pure magic.
Which is why it breaks your heart and spirit in its moment of truth. Without revealing anything from the plot, all I can say is that ‘Kaadhal’ is one of those rare classy coming-of-age films that show the triumph of love and the ironic conquests of life!
The ‘Kaadhal’ is the film’s hero and the villain. It is the solution and the problem, resolved only by the hard truths of life — the film’s other hero and villain, of course.
MADRAS INK. 
damn i hate to agree with you. i loved it all too, was just a little let down by the end.
The most sad-smile inducing parts– whenever the boy expresses disbelief of how such a wonderful thing can happen to him. i cannot believe this was the same yo-chap in Boys.
ok more in person…
Its a very mediocre movie. I dont get the hype surrounding it…
The girls grandma…was at her melodramatic best and so too were the other women in the girls household.
The story was a drab but point taken the movie had a fresh feel to it largely because the lead roles were enacted by two no-namers.
carkit
beautiful review man!as good as the movie!
The movie was good. But the last half hour or so was really horrible. Was shifting in my seat waiting for the movie to be over.
I liked the simplicity of the movie. It is very different from the kind of movie we get to see these days. Good effort, but would have been better off with lesser tears in the end.
-uday
sudhish thambi,
i’m waiting for thagadu to watch this movie! someone please oblige! 🙂
cheers
heroihni!
yes yes… this movie marks bharat’s coming of age as an actor!
carkit…
kaadhal did not have any hype. they released with almost zero publicity.
the “hype” as u call it, is purely word of mouth… just as it did for “Sethu”..
i dont agree with ur views about the melodrama… well, we’ll just leave it at that!
uday…
i liked the brutal reality that takes over a tender love story… it had to be there with all its ferocious intensity.. cuz… life is like that, my friend.
dont watch this on thagadu. this movie surely is worth the price of a ticket. i rate it much higher than 7G rainbow colony. in terms of technique too.
came here intending to leave sarcy mean comment but saw ur replies and went awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :p you are tho thweet thumthimes 😀 there!!!the clouds have passed!!how do u always do this everytime? i mean how do u ALWAYS cheer me up without even intending to??i just have to look at ur face and i laugh. AWESOME!!!!!!!!
mah very own desi daddy long legs!! (thats an insect and a book. i mean the book (i think) 😀
Ms. Sphinx:
Aha!!
😀
i always knew i had that effect!
*smack*
Pasangala!
inanga pa panradhu…
pora pokku seriyave illaiye!!
figure father figure akiduchu!
*shakes head and sings from Strawberry Kanney*
Routey Maathu…
I just downloaded and watched a torrent of kaadhal.I loved it. The last 3 days I’ve watched 3grc, kadal kondein, and thulluvado illamai. I think tamil cinemakku vaisu vandaachu. Awesome stuff- Gut wrenching heart rending guileless slickly made 2 much.
I can understand spoken tamil, but cant read/write it. Could some one please tell me what the text at the end of Kadhal said? I am guessing the diro decided to send the crowd packing on an upbeat note..would be nice to confirm it though..
cluelessilliterate:
it just said that it was based on a true story he heard while travelling on a train!
the man travelling with him was the husband of the girl or soemthing like that! dont remember now!
I saw the movie Kaadhal yesterday. It is really a fantastic one. I would prefer to call it a Classic movie. It portrays a realistic love in a graceful manner. The heroine Sandhya’s performance is too good, especailly in the end. The girl on seeing Murgan during the climax, screams and asks God…” Is it a sin to love? ” This is really heart breaking. The film has got a wonderful message.
kaadhal has been a wonderful experience all 2gether;not just a movie,but an entertainment u can relate to.I’m sure for most kids that grew up in india, similar things have happened at some pt of time or the other.every actor in the movie had done absolute justice to the character.there was no “over acting” or melodrama that doesnt happen in real.the director has proved to capture real-life situations and deliver it 2 the audience with as much impact as it would in real.The movie kinda makes u uneasy towards the latter half,simply because it is so life-like and expecting another happy-ending in the movie would b absurd.the movie somehow gets u 2 dig in2 ur memories and its difficult not to feel moved by the events in the movie.u r definitely shaken up by the end of the movie, not in sympathy for the characters or the people who faced the enormity of those events in real; it is probably the truth that is so hard to accept.
I don’t think there’s much else that can be said about this movie..
i’m glad that there’s other people out there that felt the same i did.
i couldn’t help but cry.
i’m not ashamned to say it..(ok..a little bit ashamed)
real life sucks.