Kadaisi Ulaga Por Movie Review: Hiphop Tamizha Adhi’s ambitious project is honest but bogged down by genericity

2.5/5

Kadaisi Ulaga Por story:

It is the year 2028, and China in alliance with Russia has formed Republic, an alternative challenging the United Nations. India, which refuses to bow down to its neighbouring country has to face the wrath. Down south, Natarajan (Natty) is the right-hand to the chief minister (Nasser). Natarajan is more interested in being the kingmaker than the king himself, and smartly moves his chess pieces on the board called Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, all hell breaks loose when China seizes control over the state, pushing the state to declare the next world war, possibly the final as the title suggests.

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Kadaisi Ulaga Por review:

For some parts of Kadaisi Ulaga Por, the film feels like a spiritual revisit of Natty’s Sathuranga Vettai, not because they have a common lead actor, but a character that comfortably rests in a region of grey shade that largely borrows antics of an anti-hero. Early on itself, we are cautioned that this is the story of Natarajan, and Tamizh (Adhi) merely comes in to disturb the pawns on the chessboard. Well, it is true because Kadaisi Ulaga Por is more of Natty’s show rather than Adhi, despite the latter saving the day. But the only fact is it is a show that hardly rattles the drama.

Kadaisi Ulaga Por is set in the near future, a handful of years away only. Given this, the film had an abundance of material to already play with stories that can cause destruction to the world, as if the present times are not enough to stir towards the end. The history of war movies too has a personal tale being the driving force as a testament to the destruction mankind has caused to itself. But in this film, Adhi makes it a global phenomenon, but the problem lies when globalism isn’t involved. In the film, Tamil Nadu which is miles away from China, seems to be the only place in focus amid the ruckus that is around. Perhaps the same way how aliens always end up in the US? We are first elaborately introduced to Natarajan’s scheme of things, and how his vicious and people skills have sealed him as kingmaker, and that the chief minister dances to his tunes. With his daughter Keerthana (Anagha) next in line, Natarajan has formed his own community of powerful forces who make things easier to swing his side, that all he needs to do is just pull the strings of puppets who are the faces of the government. But the film sadly is bogged down by so much genericity that it almost becomes a never-ending narration that keeps introducing characters.

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Oh well, there is a plethora of characters introduced; cop Prakash (Kalyan Master) who aids Natarajan in his gimmicks, Pulipandi (Azhagam Perumal), an activist politician on coalition, ruthless constable Das (Munishkanth) responsible for custodial murders, military officer Prabhjot Singh (Harish Uttaman), superstar actor Rishikanth (Shara) among the many others, who join hands at various times to orchestrate the war the film is named after, but we seldom get the idea why and how these people are formed in this chain. The film’s main issue is that it never sets a cohesive narrative to understand the happening of things. At one moment we see a budding romance between Anagha and Tamizh, and soon we see all the characters scrunched up in a post-war style. We are never made to understand how Republic seized forces from a state which is in union with several others, or what is happening to the rest of the countries in the world. Characters exhibit their arcs for a moment, but the emotions evoked are far from being impactful. Nevertheless, Adhi manages to stir some moments of drama, and there seems some genuine efforts that have gone into the making. But given the magnitude of the story and the little it offers, Kadaisi Ulaga Por becomes underwhelming for most parts.

Kadaisi Ulaga Por verdict

Kadaisi Ulaga Por has a solid premise and with someone like Adhi at the front of it, has immense potential to become a dystopian war drama that Tamil cinema has never seen. But with its boggling screenplay and disjointed narrative, the film appears to be less ambitious than it set out to be.