​Kaari Review: Sasikumar's rural outing is only entertaining in parts and fails to create an impact

2.5/5

​​Story: A Chennai-based horse jockey returns to his village in Ramnad, where he not only witnesses the tussle for power but the barbarism of a rich businessman

Review: Jallikattu films are a dime a dozen and Sasikumar's offering Kaari, too, delves into the subject. However, Jallikattu is not the crux of the story in this rural action entertainer, but the film's director Hemanth takes us on a compassionate ride as far as the animals in the film are concerned and talks about the human-animal bond.

The plot revolves around two villages in Ramnad district, Kariyalur and Sivanenthal, who can't see eye to eye and the only thing that can bring them together is a Jallikattu. However, organising the bull taming sport is no cakewalk in the village.

Vellasamy from the village (Aadukalam Naren) is a do-gooder and has the habit of always questioning the wrong. This leads him to frequent run-ins with the people of the village. Sethu (Sasikumar), his son is a horse jockey in Chennai, who constantly reprimands his father for the frequent brush-offs with people. However, things turn topsy turvy, when Sethu is betrayed by his friend during the horse race. He is forced to return to his village in Ramnad where life throws many challenges at him, which includes his face-off with a ruthless corporate kingpin SKR( JD Chakravarthy), who exploits animals for his sadistic pleasures. We also meet Karuppa, a Jallikattu bull raised by Meena (Parvathy Arun).

Kaari is a film that could have worked better had the director kept the chain of events focused. The problem with Kaari is that the film tries to infuse too many elements in the story, namely exploitation of land resources, water bodies, waste disposal, agriculture, Jallikattu, corporate greed to name a few. Just as the plot thickens, it quickly wavers to another subject, thus disrupting the flow of the story. The film also has many sequences that are quite cliched in films of this genre.

Rural subjects are Sasikumar's forte, but somehow the actor doesn't seem very convincing in this one. The same goes for JD Chakravarthy, whose character sketch is so weak that neither do you hate him, nor dread him and he ends up coming across as plain annoying. An actor of his calibre deserved a much better role. Redin Kingsley's comic lines, too, fall completely flat and they sound like a repeat of what he did in Kolamavu Kokila. However, Aadukalam Naren, Balaji Sakthivel, Ammu Abhirami (in an extended cameo) and Samyuktha put up a decent performance. Parvathy Arun makes a fantastic debut as Meena and the scene where she cries after her bull goes missing touches your heart.

Kaari has a few heroic moments. Karuppa, the bull gets some scenes and D Imman's tunes take the swag a notch higher. The film also has some poignant moments as well, for example, the scene where Sethu's horse is shot dead and its foal comes to look for its mother can well up your eyes. Likewise, the scene where Karuppa almost gets into the slaughterhouse, too, also brings a tear in your eye. But many other emotional scenes do feel distant.

If only the director had kept the story focused with a better screenplay, the film could have become one worth remembering.

Verdict: A one-time watch​