Karnan is written and directed by Mari Selvaraj, and produced by Kalaipuli S Thanu under the banner, V Creations. Dhanush and Rajisha Vijayan play the lead role while Lal, Yogi Babu, Lakshmipriyaa Chandramouli among others play the supporting roles. The music for the film is by Santhosh Narayanan and Theni Eswar has handled the cinematography.
Pariyerum Perumal is one of those films which made the world stop and take a look. The film had so much in it that when Mari Selvaraj announced Karnan, there was excitement. Not because the film had some ensemble cast and crew but because of the expectations. How can one top Pariyerum Perumal?
Well, looks like Mari Selvaraj took it as a challenge and came up with something phenomenal. To add more to that, Dhanush doesn’t act but lives as Karnan. I couldn’t think of someone else who could pull off a character like this, with such ease. He talks more with his eyes, makes us feel what his character goes through.
The cinematography adds more beauty to Karnan, both film and the character. There are bird-eye shots that talk about the beauty of Podiyankulam and there are close-ups to actors which adds more essence to the story. In a way, the close-ups show how confident Mari Selvaraj is about his cast and their work.
Of course, he should be as every single character has done well and stays with us forever. The female lead Rajisha Vijayan has lesser work than I actually expected but of course, she has done her part good. Among others, Lal’s character stands out and he scores in every single frame.
The story talks about the village Podiyankulam and how the people have to fight even for their basic rights. Podiyankulam doesn’t even have a bus stop and none of the buses stops here. The youngsters and other people of the village come together to resolve this and Karnan played by Dhanush leads them. While this is the major plot, there are other subplots as well. What works well is that none of the plots distracts us from the main story. Mari Selvaraj, just like how he did in Pariyerum Perumal, has provided us with subtle yet hard-hitting hints about the differences and the things the people go through here, something that will make us think. He has made sure to take us to the village and makes us feel as if we are one of them.
In this film, we don’t have any flashbacks and the songs are enough to tell us what had happened. Undoubtedly, one of the best albums in recent times, Karnan songs works even better on screens, thanks to the placement. The music is certainly one of the pillars for this film along with cinematography and editing.
The only thing that might bother a few people is the length of the film which comes closer to three hours and probably the first half (because the second half is just too good). On the whole, this film is yet another gold in the career of Dhanush, Mari Selvaraj and the whole crew.
Mari Selvaraj has given once again given us a film that should begin a few important conversations/question/debate (about important things that people usually ghost) just like Pariyerum Perumal did. If you can, please catch the film on screens because the experience is just too good.
