Dhanush is keen on presenting himself as a renaissance man. The actor has tried his hand at writing, producing, songwriting and directing for more than a decade now. For his fourth directorial feature - following the lukewarm reception of ‘Nilavakku Enmel Ennadi Kobam’ earlier this year - Dhanush returns to his role as writer/director with ‘Idli Kadai,’ a sentimental family drama.
The film follows Murugan (Dhanush), hailing from a rural village where his father’s idli eatery is a respected establishment. Wishing to expand his father’s restaurant into a franchise, Murugan sets off to Chennai for university. Years later, Murugan finds himself abroad but is drawn back to his hometown to rediscover his roots. The core plot for ‘Idli Kadai’ is a solid one, which is often sidetracked by less developed, weaker subplots. There are interesting dynamics - especially with the local villagers who are troubled by Murugan’s return - but these are not explored with enough depth. Furthermore, there are symbols and ideas at play here that are not given enough importance and time to land with full impact and realisation.
The cast are not given strong enough characters to fully perform to their capacity. The film has many great character actors in its cast: Parthiban, Samuthirakanni and Sathyaraj are at Dhanush’s disposal, but their potential has not been fully used. The female leads Nithya Menen and Shalini Pandey are also underwritten. Dhanush reunites with Rajkiran - who worked with him in his directorial debut, 2017’s ‘Power Paandi.’ Rajkiran plays Murugan’s father Sivanesan, who with his limited screen time is able to evoke some emotion from the audience.
The technical aspect is where the film often shines. A few scenes (particularly those in which the ‘divinity’ of Sivanesan is portrayed onscreen through wonderful lighting which give the frames a lovely illustrated look) felt extremely special and give us an idea of how Dhanush could develop in his trajectory as a director. The action blocks however are quite clumsily choreographed and shot in comparison to the much slicker work in last year’s ’Raayan.’
GV Prakash Kumar’s score and soundtrack is once again slightly underwhelming, perhaps due to the lacklustre material he has to work with. Three of the tracks are penned by Dhanush himself, including the best song on the album, ‘Enjaami Thandhaanae’ which is accompanied by a visual spectacle with a grand dance sequence. It is a song of gratitude, thanking the powers above for an abundant and fruitful life - a subject matter which has been done many times in Tamil cinema with much better levels of success. The song ‘Enna Sugam’ is the obligatory romance track of the album, which feels slightly underwhelming.
Overall, ‘Idli Kadai’ has redeeming qualities, but these are few and far between. The best artists often experiment with different styles and learn to master them before finding their own unique voice. Although Dhanush’s mastery is still questionable, it is promising that he has endeavoured to experiment with his film genres in pursuit of his directorial voice. If you enjoyed ‘Idli Kadai,’ I would recommend watching 2021’s ‘Kadaisi Vivasaayi’ or last year's 'Meiyazhagan,' both of which explore similar themes.
Krishna's rating: 2.5 stars
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Official trailer for film below.
