Three cheers for Director Rajesh. He makes it three-in-a-row now thanks to OKOK. With Udhayanidhi Stalin donnoing the greasepaint, Santhanam played the trusted lieutenant and Harris jeyaraj’s screming music, OKOK touches the winning post with ease and elan.
Comedy is his forte. Knowning his strength well, Rajesh has churned out a movie that lives upto all expectations from reel one. The one-liuners are catchy. The situational comedy especially the one onboard an aircraft are a delight to watch.
Udhayanidhi Stalin is at ease. Cool before the camera, he resembles boy next-door. His body language is also appreciable for the role. Santhanam is the pillar. He plays the role of his friend with perfection. The humour free flows with Santhanam. He gets the act thanks to his director with whom he shares a good rapport from SMS till OKOK. The bubbly Hansika Motwani is awesome and fits the role to T. She is cool and oozes oomph factor well.
Andrea, Aarya and Sneha play cameos. Saranya, Azhagam perumal and Shayaji Shinde are also in the cast.
OK OK has no big story. It is simple and narration of events makes up the script. Saravanan (Udhayanidhi) is a fun-loving youth who goes about enjoying life with Parthasarathy (Santhanam). All is well till he meets Meera ( Hansika Motwani ) one fine day at a traffic signal and falls for her, almost immediately. Subsequently, he approaches her and proposes to her. However, Meera (Hansika) promptly rejects it. How he manage to convince her forms the crux.
Harris rocks with venam Machan and Akila. Thanks to Rajesh, OKOK ends up a thorough entertainer.
All said, OKOK is a double delight for all. Comedy does sells in Kollywood.
Verdict: For a hearty laugh
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It was probably one of the most eagerly awaited films in the first few months of 2012. Also, it marks the acting debut of producer and DMK leader M Karunanidhi’s grandson — Udhayanidhi Stalin (son of M K Stalin) and he does given the impression that he isn’t too overawed facing the camera after being a behind-the-scenes man for some time now.
The smart producer in Udhayanidhi comes to the fore as he has chosen M Rajesh to helm the project which marks his acting debut.
The director is known for his entertaining films with highly commercial subjects and he doesn’t disappoint either. Riding the crest on the back of two back-to-back hits — Siva Mansula Sakthi (SMS) and Boss Engira Baskiran, he has apparently scored a hat-trick with Oru Kal Oru Kannadi (OK OK) a laugh riot.
To say the obvious comedian Santhanam proves an apt foil for Udhayanidhi and the twosome do keep the audience happy for the length of the film. Rajesh in the process proves that his two earlier successes were no fluke and he does it again by sticking to his tried and tested formula.
OK OK was touted to be a laugh-riot with lots of romance and songs thrown in. The beautiful and bubbly Hansika Motwani and good music by Harris Jeyaraj add value to the product.
Now to the storyline — Saravanan (Udhayanidhi) gets Meera’s (Hansika) wedding invitation asking him not to attend. A flashback reveals what transpired between them.
Saravanan and Parthasarathy (Santhanam) are close buddies. The two have enjoy life and spend a lot of time together. Both work in a multiplex. One day, Saravanan comes across Meera and chases her till her house. It is love at first sight apparently for him.
However, she turns down his proposal. Then, Saravanan seeks Parthasarathy’s help in the matter. The two goes all out to ensure that Meera okays Saravanan’s love. There are several twists and turns but in the end all is well, so to speak.
Rajesh makes no bones about making feel-good entertainers and comes up trumps in the end, yet again.
Udhayanidhi does an adequate job in his first film and seems to enjoy Santhanam’s company. Hansika fits the bill as the bubbly heroine while the show-stealer is Santhanam, without a doubt.
His stock has been rising rapidly and is now considered the leading comedian in Tamil cinema. He underlines his importance to the film and has the audience in splits with his one-liners.
Sneha appears in a cameo while Arya and Andrea appear in the climax as it has been the norm in Rajesh’s movies.
Seasoned actress Saranya, Azhagamperumal and Shayaji Shinde are also in the cast and do their respective jobs with aplomb. Music director Harris Jeyaraj does what is expected of him and has come up with youthful numbers.
Rajesh has scored again and it should be a hat-trick for him.
Just for FUN!
Plot
Saravanan (Udhayanidhi Stalin) is a happy-go-lucky guy, and his close friend Parthasarathy (Parthasarathy) is no less in enjoying life to every bit of it. And, these road-Romeos’ main job in life is seeing girls and running behind them! But, when Saravanan stumbles upon Meera (Hansika) he falls in love with her. Meera also reciprocates. When all was going well the love couple gets separated… So, what is the reason for their separation, whether they join again, this you have to watch on Silver screen!
Review
Oh, it is a hat trick for Rajesh! Yes, the director has made it this time too with a light-hearted laughathon! Oru Kal Oru Kannadi (OKOK) is no inferior to Rajesh’s previous makings – ‘Siva Manasula Sakthi’ and ‘Boss Engira Baskaran’ – in providing a hearty laugh right from frame one to the end! Hats off, Rajesh!
For Udhayanidhi Stalin, the producer-turned-actor, Oru Kal Oru Kannadi is a perfect launch pad. And, the successful young producer has proved it that he could do well in acting too. His body language and expressions sure impress us, for a debut hero. Only thing, he should not have tried much dancing or could have taken classes!
It is again Santhanam, for director Rajesh, who fits the bill nicely as second-hero cum comedian, who steals the show. His witty one liners and whining situations keep us in splits all through the film.
Hansika is too chubby, too much that you sometimes her shape get on your nerves. Otherwise, the actress scores with her simple acting.
Saranya Ponvannan as Udhayanidhi’s mother delivers another superb performance. Azhagam Perumal and Shayaji Shinde also put a neat show with their well etched characters.
Arya, Sneha and Andrea do cameo appearances.
Another big man in ‘Oru Kal Oru Kannadi’ is Harris Jayaraj. He takes you to a romantic musical journey with his songs and background score.
Balasubramaniem’s camera work has given a youthful look to the frames with freshness and colours.
‘Oru Kal Oru Kannadi’ is also a perfect weekend movie to go with the family, and a more perfect weekday movie to go with your boy/girl friend!
Yes, ‘Oru Kal Oru Kannadi’ is a most perfect wholesome entertainer of this season!
Grab a ticket and get ready to run the Laughthon called ‘Oru Kal Oru Kannadi’! You will win exciting prizes of big and big laughs!
what a funny movie… friends don’t miss our new comedian!
Oru Kal, Oru Kannaadi is tortuous
After the runaway success of Siva Manasula Shakthi and Boss (E) Baskaran, director M Rajesh’s latest, Oru Kal, Oru Kannaadi (A Stone, A Mirror) is true to his particular style of filming that you could substitute the actors and screenplay and get nothing new from the result.
Oru Kal, Oru Kannaadi (the title is taken from one of the songs in the movie SMS), produced by Red Giant Movies makes it very clear that the cast and crew had just one thing on their minds: wholesale entertainment, preferably with no brains involved.
The Story: Boy from a supposedly middle-class family, who almost never works, scouts for suitable girls to marry. He mocks “ordinary-looking” girls in public and reviles them. Finally he chooses a rich, very fair-complexioned girl and expects her to return his affections for no reason other than the fact that he’s male and she’s female. No matter how much he loafs around, she has to love him. That’s pretty much it, as far as OKOK is concerned.
The Guy: Saravanan (Udhayanidhi Stalin) works in Sathyam Cinemas as an usher. But aside from a couple of random shots of him sitting around and chatting in the theatre, he’s never seen to be working.
He does, however, ride around all over Chennai on a snazzy bike, dresses well, and is always in the company of his friend Partha, until he falls in love with the perfect girl, Meera. Post this, of course, his job is to tell her that he likes her only because she’s beautiful (like Chinna Thambi’s Khushboo, as he tells her) and find unbelievable reasons for why she should love him.
Even the gods help Saravanan when she repeatedly rejects him: all her other suitors are even worse than he is! Which makes an excellent point for why she should love him, eventually.
Udhayanidhi, who makes his debut as an actor, aside from his producer avatar, has tried valiantly to play the role but his dances and dialogue delivery look painstaking. On the other hand, his isn’t a role that requires any finesse, so this doesn’t matter.
The Girl: Meera (Hansika Motwani) is the daughter of the deputy commissioner of police in Chennai (Shayaji Shinde). She is quite rich, has a complexion that rivals milk, flips her hair around, and wears tight dresses which automatically makes her desirable.
She’s training to be an air-stewardess (the director’s fascination with this profession continues) and eventually begins to work for Kingfisher, where she’s followed by the guy Saravan and his cohort friend Partha, harassed mercilessly in public, until she confesses her true feelings (in private).
Throughout, despite being depicted as a vapid, spoilt brat whom the “hero” tames, you only feel pity for this well-to-do girl who’s forced into a relationship she doesn’t really seem to want or need.
Hansika Motwani looks and is her usual, bubbly helium-enriched self, who mostly has nothing to do but look pretty and puzzled. That’s what her role requires of her and she fulfills it perfectly.
The Hero: Partha (Santhanam), the faithful sidekick of the guy who willingly wisecracks, saves Saravanan from sticky situations, plays second fiddle. He loves and loses his own girl and in Saravanan’s own words, does pretty much what’s asked of him, all for the sake of his friendship.
Partha has a ready collection of gags and one-liners that rescue the screenplay, story, guy and girl when everything threatens to go off the rails. He packs in a lot of verbal punches, emotes and expresses everything in wildly exaggerated yet genuinely heart-warming fashion.
You stick to watching the lovers’ travails not because you’re invested in them, but because of Partha’s unique take and punchy dialogues. In fact, Saravanan and Partha spend more time in each other’s company and are so finely in tune with each other’s feelings that you question the need for Meera at all.
By rights, Santhanam’s name, which appears third after Udhayanidhi and Hansika, should have come first. He’s the only reason you can even sit through most scenes. The man has almost single-handedly ensured that OKOK is watchable, even though some gags aren’t quite as funny as they used to be. His expressions, dialogues, and even dance save the day.
Harris Jeyaraj, the credits say, composed the music. Aside from Venaam Machan (which, though foot-tapping, is a rehash of Vaaranam Aayiram’s Anjalai), there’s nothing even remotely interesting about the music.
Vivek Harshan’s editing could have been better, while Balasubramaniem’s cinematography is slick as usual.
OKOK is a slightly torturous friendship story of two guys and that’s pretty much it. There’s a girl here, somewhere, but she doesn’t count. The only one who matters is Santhanam, and his hilarious one-liners bag all your attention.
Producer Udhayanidhi Stalin is turning a full-time actor with Oru Kal Oru Kannadi, which is out and out comedy entertainer. With hilarious one-liners and wonderful performances of the lead stars, the Tamil film wins the heart of the audience.
The story begins with a courier boy delivering a post to Saravanan (Udhayanidhi Stalin), where he receives a wedding invitation of his girlfriend Meera (Hansika Motwani). In order to stop the marriage, he sets a journey to Pondicherry along with Parthasarathy (Santhanam) in a car. As they move ahead, a flashback opens up, which tells the tale of their friendship and their love story.
Saravanan, who is a childhood friend of Partha, sees a masked girl at a traffic signal when he was on his way to drop his mother (Saranya Ponvannan) to a college. The mother and son pass on a comment that makes her to remove her scarf and show her face. The moment he sees her face, he falls in love with her and the love story begins. The rest of the tale is advised to watch on-screen.
From the word go, Oru Kal Oru Kannadi keeps you engaging with its comic scenes. Though, we cannot say that the movie has a good story, there is not a single moment where the audience get bored. Director Rajesh has penned a simple yet lively story. His narration, like before, is impressive. The strengths of Oru Kal Oru Kannadi are the one-liners and the way Santhanam mouths it. However, the drawback of the story is that there is not anything new in the film and the audience had seen such rom-coms more often than not.
Acting wise, Udhayanidhi Stalin does a good job in his debut film Oru Kal Oru Kannadi. He looks younger than his age and if he can improve his acting skills, the producer-turned-actor can definitely take up a full-time acting career. But his dancing abilities are not impressive and he has to work on it. When it comes to Santhanam, the comedian breaks the funny bones of the audience all through. In fact, it would not be exaggeration if we say that he is the second lead actor of the film. Bubbly Hansika Motwani is beautiful and charming. Last but not the least, Saranya Ponvannan has given an excellent performance. And others like Azhagam Perumal, Sayaji Shinde, Uma Padmanabhan are okay in their limited roles. It is also noted that Arya, Sneha and Andrea have done guest appearances in the movie.
Technically, Balasubramaniam’s cinematography is good, Harris Jayaraj’s ‘Venaam machan…’ and ‘Kathal oru butterfly…’ are praise worthy. Vivek Harshan’s editing is decent. We should appreciate director M Rajesh for doing a neat and enjoyable film.
Verdict: Oru Kal Oru Kannadi may not have a great storyline, but watching the film is worth every penny.
He is just two films old (Siva Manasula Shakthi and Boss Engira Bhaskaran) but he has already created a special place for himself in Kollywood. Yes, we are talking about director Rajesh who has now emerged as one of the best entertainers in recent times. This time in Oru Kal Oru Kannadi, he has chosen Red Giants honcho Udhayanidhi Stalin as his lead hero. Bubbly beauty Hansika Motwani is the leading lady while like his earlier films Rajesh’s lucky charm Santhanam plays an important role in this flick too. Harris Jayaraj’s songs are already topping the charts. The movie, titled from the hit song from Siva Manasula Sakthi is a comedy entertainer in typical Rajesh style. Andrea Jeremiah, Arya and Sneha have made special appearance in this comedy entertainer. The film is produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under his home banner. The star cast also includes Saranya Ponvannan, Azhagam Perumal, Sayaji Shinde and Uma Padmanabhan.
What is it about?
Set in the backdrop of Chennai, Oru Kal Oru Kannadi narrates the story of Saravanan (Udhayanidhi Stalin), a happy-go-lucky youth who works in a leading multiplex. For whatever he does in his life he will have the support of his childhood friend Partha aka Parthasarathy (Santhanam). At this point Saravanan meets Meera (Hansika Motwani), an aviation student, at a traffic signal and obviously its love at first sight for him. To his dismay he will soon find out that Meera is the daughter of city’s Deputy Police Commissioner but that doesn’t stop Saravanan from going behind Meera. Meanwhile Saravanan’s mother (Saranya Ponvannan) is a graduation student, isn’t that suprising? Well, the story goes like this Saravanan’s father and mother are not on talking terms for the past 20 years. Apparently Saravanan’s mother lied to his father that she is a graduate during their wedding and after knowing the truth the happiness in the family shattered.
Coming back to the story, can Saravanan convince Meera? Will Partha help Saravanan in his love? How will Meera’s father react to this? What will happen to Saravanan’s parents? To get answers to all these questions watch out for Oru Kal Oru Kannadi?
THE PERFOMANCE
The Santhanam factor: There is no one doubt that the film completely belongs to Santhanam! It’s him all the way, right from the first frame to end credits! And he does it with ease, once again the combo of Santhanam and Rajesh rocks. In fact Santhanam is slow emerging as the best comedian in recent times. His comedy timings, perfect one-liners and dialogue delivery steals the show completely. Rolling on the floor and laughing – that is the best pharse to describe Santhanam’s performance. Not to forget the actor’s multicolored costumes!
Udhayanidhi Stalin’s potrayal of Saravanan is neat and interesting; but he lacks the screen presence. Being a debut film, without any punches and heroic acts, Udhayanidhi has done a wonderful job. However he has to improve his body language and facial expressions (especially emotional skills). Pretty lass Hansika Motwani is cherubic and suave. She has in fact exhibited a dual avatar in this film; as a chirpy student and as a galmorous diva in the song sequence.
Saranya Ponvannan proves that she is one the best in K town today; a well deserved receiptent of the prestigious National Awards. Azhagam Perumal as Udhayanidhi’s father is good, Sayaji Shinde as Hansika’s father fits the perfectly and Uma Padmanabhan does her part well too. Another important role in the film is Arya, who interestingly appears only in one scene. There is no doubt he is the darling of masses. He sets the screens on fire with his white pattu vedi and sattai and we mean it literally. The actors appears as head of Rajinikanth’s fans association and he plays a major role in uniting the couple. Sneha and Andreah has also done cameo appearance in the film.
THE TECHNIQUES
Director Rajesh has once again proved that he is best in the business. He has once used his old success formula (witty dialogues, an ordinary hero and his best friend) to make OKOK a fun-filled-joy-ride. Kudos to the Rajesh for writing a grippy entertainer with humourous dialogues. Harris Jayaraj’s melodious scores is another added advantage of the film with the songs ‘Akila Akila’ and ‘Venam Venam Machan’ topping the charts. Balasubramanium’s camera works and Jackie’s art works are perfect. On the other side Udhayanidhi-Hansika romance doesn’t seem to have much chemistry in it.
THE VERDICT
It’s definitely a double OK for OKOK! Go for it and enjoy the long weekend!