Starts out very realistically meanders towards melancholy

Duet movies, more often than not, leaves a great impression on the audience with every one of its premise. Dhoni starts out equally well, but fails after an impressive 1^st half. One must though laud the effort taken by the team that tries to bring to the fore one of the most nagging problems of this country- our great education system, that sadly has not many voices.

The film’s about how a middle-class father ,Subramanian (prakash raj), breaks down to into harassing his son, kaarthick (Aakash),thanks to all the pressure that a middle class man in india goes through, before realising his folly and goes all out at the education system. Kaarthick is a extremely talented cricketer, his inspiration being dhoni, who can recite endless cricket statistics at will but finds reciting the multiplication tables hard. He is forced into giving up on his cricket sessions so as to prepare for his exams. His father, typical of what happens all over, spends all his hard-earned money on his son’s tuitions only for him to fail again. A frustrated father, vents out at the son, ends up facing major implications, which is very melo-dramaticcally put forth in the second half. How he recovers from the mess he created forms the rest of the premise.

The entire film plays out in two different parts, before interval and after interval, the difference in them being absurdly contrasting . It  starts out in a very promising manner. It has all the ingredients that have been the hallmark of successful movies from this production house. What follows henceforth disappoints. So realistic until then, it takes up an entirely different road becoming cinematic/melodramatic basically going over board with the emotions. You find quite a lot of loopholes sprinkled all over the plot. The actions that end up in kaarthick reaching coma it too much to take? Are you kidding me? Is that all it takes one to reach coma? And when did the doctor informing the concerned parties about some trauma, become so much like a random, convo? The neeya naana episode we get to see- must be the worst episode of a very credible programme. Never has neeya naana been this loaded in favour of a single person.  how a middle class man could so easily have access to a talk show of such high credibility is bemusing. But then, it is nothing when you compare it to the same middle class man getting to have a convo with the CM! (O_O) . all these , and a lot more holes in the plot contribute to water seeping in and the ship sinking.

Performance wise, prakash raj lives the role. He shines apart from the rest of the cast, carrying the entire film on his shoulders. As a father, a government staff, a neighbour who puts honour on the forefront, he plays the role of a middle-class man to perfection. Radhika apte ,playing the neighbour with a dishonourable profession (slut), fits the bill, fine. Somehow for  an actor of Nasser’s stature, he never looks convincing as the coach. Aakash’s is a mediocre performance and there’s a lot that can be improved upon. Ilayaraja’s score helps things in the better part of the film. Never saw the point of having that opening song though.

For a film that tries to bring out the drawbacks in our education system, ‘’dhoni’’ is a bemusing title. The pace of the film in the second half, no the second half is in itself questionable. Is it mandatory that every tamil film should be a 2 and half hour venture? A shorter, sans melodrama version would’ve made a greater impact. It is worth watching, for its impressive first half and for the issue it tries to bring forth in the second. Films such as these ought to be encouraged.

6.5/10