Damaal Dumeel (Tamil, 2014)

Writer-director Shree shows his mettle in the writing department. His screenplay ensures that the film doesn’t lag much and picks up pace after initially establishing the characters and the setting. The idea of using popular Tamil film dialogues to prop a film is not new but the way it has been done is film is refreshing. Kudos to the direction department for the apt placement. The film’s strange name is justified by the well choreographed climax sequence.

After showing traces of his skills in Mankatha, the good-looking Vaibhav Reddy who plays the funnily named protagonist Moneykandan (as per numerology) has done an effective job. Being his first film as a solo hero he has made extra efforts to emote well and it shows. His girlfriend Meera, essayed by Ramya Nambeesan, has done a decent job and their chemistry clicks.

Veterans Kota Srinivasa Rao & Shayaji Shindae light up the screen by mouthing some memorable lines. The goons under them have also performed exquisitely to ensure that the situational comedy is enjoyable. In fact the film might have had more ROFL moments had they been given more screen time.

Rarely does Thaman get a film whose genre allows him to experiment and when faced with a unique script like ‘Damaal Dumeel’, he really comes to the party. His background score is electrifying particularly when the guitar dominates. The songs have also been kept short to make sure the running time does not exceed 2 hours.