Review: Gulaebhagavali

Review: Gulaebaghavali

Director: S Kalyaan

Cast: Prabhu Deva, Hansika Motwani, Revathi, Munishkanth, Anandaraj, Yogi Babu, Sathyan,Motta Rajendran, Mansoor Ali Khan and Sampath

Music: Vivek, Mervin

Cinematography: R S Anandakumar

Gulaebaghavali is a light hearted entertainer whose only aim is to make you smile and forget your worries. And one must admit that director S Kalyaan succeeds to a reasonable extent in achieving this objective.

The film begins in the year 1945 when a Britisher, on a stormy night, is desperately looking to catch a ship that is leaving the Madras harbour. Waiting for him at the port is an Indian craftsman, who has been asked to carry the foreigner’s luggage from the dock to the ship.

Just as the ship is about to depart, the foreigner arrives. He kills his driver and then, carrying a box himself, begins hastening to the ship, followed by the craftsman, who is entrusted with the remaining boxes that are heavy.

Struggling with the heavy boxes, the craftsman falls back. In trying to keep up with the Britisher, the craftsman ends up dropping one of the boxes. It opens and from it, diamonds and other precious stones spill. The precious stones trigger an evil plan in the mind of the craftsman.

He quickly collects all the scattered stones and hides it under a barrel. Then, filling the suitcase with stones, he takes it to the ship, which is now beginning to depart.

He gives the boxes to the Englishman, who does not realise he has been tricked off his treasure. The craftsman, who now holds the treasure, decides to bury it outside a Gulaebagavali temple for safekeeping.

Several years later, his grandson, who is a rogue himself, is now looking to recover that treasure. His partner in crime is Don (Anandraj), who assigns the task of recovering the treasure to his man Munish (Munishkanth).

Interestingly, a series of developments happening simultaneously results in three other thieves joining Munish to look for the treasure. The four decide to split the treasure between them, if they find it. Do they find it? What happens to the grandson of the craftsman, who along with Don is waiting for the treasure to be recovered? Gulaebagavali answers all of these questions in a manner that will make you laugh.

The way the story begins is perfect. It creates just about enough interest in the audience to have their attention. However, having gained their attention, Kalyaan fails to sustain the interest with proceedings turning a little dull once the story shifts to the present day and age. It takes a while for him to reclaim the attention of the audience but this time, once he gets their attention, he manages to retain it right till the end.

The film has several sequences that are aimed at invoking laughter. A number of them work but not all. Those that do not work annoy you. Prabhu Deva (as Badri, a thief who specialises in stealing antique idols) comes up with a restrained performance and that actually works big time for him and the film. The actor is measured in his responses and that is pleasing to watch.

Hansika as Viji, a small time thief who has taken to this profession to support her kid sister, looks stunning in the film. The actress seems to have made quite an effort to make her presence felt and that has paid off rich divendends. She looks sensuous and classy and has no problem garnering attention. In fact, others in the same frame as the actress have had to compete hard to get their share of attention. Her performance in this film is likely to bring her back in the spotlight.

The film has a large number of comedy actors but the ones who contribute the most to the humour department are Yogi Babu, Anandraj and Motta Rajendran.

Yogi Babu, in particular, is spot on as usual, delivering lines that make you burst out laughing. He makes you smile almost every time he appears on screen. Anandraj, in his inimitable style, delivers the occasional factual one liners, that make you grin and Motta Rajendran’s comedy works more due to the situation he has been given in the film, than anything else.

Actress Revathy has a meaty role in this film as Masha, a thief who is a pro when it comes to conning people with sob stories. Interestingly, Masha happened to be the name of her character in Arangetra Velai, a film that went on to become a super hit.

The film’s music and visuals are just about Okay. On the whole, Gulaebaghavali is a funny entertainer that is reasonably good.