Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal

What could have been an engaging tale of romance and mystery falls flat because of incompetent writing. Half-bakedness rules the film from start to... read more

What could have been an engaging tale of romance and mystery falls flat because of incompetent writing. Half-bakedness rules the film from start to end that no amount of innovation finally helps.

Ram is a software engineer who shuttles between his work in Chennai and wife, Charu, in Bangalore. Rams new CEO, Latha, in Chennai bears a striking resemblance to his wife but Ram doesnt seem to care much about it. Latha says she knows Ram but Ram does not acknowledge that fact. Latha with the help of her family doctor tries to unravel the mystery behind Ram. Not very long in the past, Ram is sent to Bangalore to take part in a project competition when he happens to meet Charu, his flat mate. They develop great camaraderie and together make an award winning software project. While Charu leaves for the US immediately after that, Ram meets with an accident. Latha reveals that she knows Ram because she is Charu, her actual name being Charulatha. Then, who is the Charu that keeps talking to Ram on the phone? Is Ram being delusional about the existence of another woman who looks like Latha? Does he have a past? Will Latha come to Rams rescue at the expense of her impending marriage? All these questions are answered in the second half.

With a not-so-bad plot like this, debutante director Elred Kumar should have just ensured that the screenplay was tight and coherent. Many twists lack punch and you are just left blankly staring at the screen just like Atharva does most of the time. The directors progressive ideas are nothing but drivel hero and heroine who are complete strangers share an apartment like it is the most normal thing, biometric door locks, radiation control through software, the fact that the heroines fianc is actually gay and sends two gay killers to kill the heroine. The film abounds in such absurdities and they reach unimaginable heights towards the end. To make things worse, there is an unconnected humorless comedy track of Santhanam.

Atharva and Amala Paul are not bad, but if they were banking on this film for a bright career in films, they better rethink. Atharva needs to polish his dialogue delivery and Amala Paul looks quite uncomfortable as the ultra glam CEO. And her bad make-up adds to her misery. Jaiprakash as the doctor and Nasser as Rams well wisher from his village dont make any great impression. Anupama Kumar gets a small but significant role and she quite impresses.

G V Prakashkumars complicated tunes hardly stay in the memory. Some songs have been shot in the US, but people still walk out. Cinematographer Shakti maintains a blue tone throughout which gives the film a certain mood. Editing and Art are ok but become insignificant in a lack luster script.

Psychological thriller meets feel good romance and becomes a nightmare.
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Debutante Elrad Kumar produced and directed MUK had its fair share of pre-release buzz and controversies in the form of change of hands from one di... read more

Debutante Elrad Kumar produced and directed MUK had its fair share of pre-release buzz and controversies in the form of change of hands from one director to another and the delay in its post-production work as well. What was poised to be a romantic thriller, ended up as a tedious and long winded affair with hardly anything solid to offer.

The story revolves around the lead cast of Atharva and Amala Paul. Both are software engineers, Atharva working in Chennai, while Amala Paul lives in Bangalore. Atharva travels to Bangalore every weekend to be with her girlfriend and at nights he avenges her foes. Meanwhile Amala Paul (with another name) arrives in India from the US and claims that she too knows Atharva, while Atharva treats her as an unknown person. Why Atharva does this form the rest of the story and thus bringing in the lame twist in the tale.

The biggest weakness for the movie was its screenplay. To justify the fact that it was meant to be a core love story, way too many songs were thrust into the narration, thus hampering the pace of the movie. Though the director tried his best to hook the audiences with an element of suspense, immediately after the interval the steam is lost and all that happens after that hardly makes any sense.

For Atharva this was considered to be the big ticket for becoming the heartthrob among the youth, but sadly he was not up to the mark and he hardly made any sensible emotions on screen. Though he had a photo shopped physique, his acting let him down. Better luck next time!

Amala Paul had a plum role and looked gorgeous on screen, but the screenplay became so weak at a certain point in time that she was made to look like a wasted piece of glossy white paper.

Santhanams weakest role by far was in this movie. Though he tried his best to resurrect the movie at times, he was hardly given any screen space and thus his efforts went down the drain.

Jayaprakash, was cast in his favorite supporting role as the psychiatrist, tried his best to do a decent job, but was caricaturised many a times by the below par screenplay.

All others including Nasser and Anupama Kumar had done their roles with finesse. A special mention for Anupama Kumar, who has donned a bold womans role and her flash back episode, though a bit long, added some much needed fuel for the weak screenplay.

Music by G.V.Prakash was good, though it cannot be rated in his top league of albums. The placement of songs literally scared the audiences and some were even lazy to go out for a fag as too many of them were thrust within a very short span of time. The BGM was a bit nosiy too.

Editing was a huge disappointment as the movie dragged towards the end and added to the boredom.

Cinematography by Shakthi was eye-catchy, especially the grand foreign locales and the first song on the American highway was amazing.

The movie had good production values in the form of grand foreign locales and costumes, but because of the poor treatment of the script, this certainly goes down as just another failed attempt of a debut director who wanted to make an engaging romantic thriller, but misses the trick with a rehashed and amateurish screenplay which doesnt cater to any of our senses. view less