Kuppathu Raja movie review: The plot of Kuppathu Raja is like any other average gangster film.Kuppathu Raja movie cast: GV Prakash Kumar, Parthiepan, Poonam Bajwa
Kuppathu Raja movie director: Baba Bhaskar
Kuppathu Raja movie rating: One star
While watching a ‘commercial’ film, there are questions you should never ask. Don’t ask why the hero ogles women. Don’t ask why he disrespects others. Don’t ask why he’s aimless. Don’t ask why he speaks filth. Just be convinced that the makers are trying to cater to the actor’s fan base so that his audience is entertained. Most importantly, never expect something new and visit the theaters. You know that the protagonist, though a rowdie, can’t be evil. He shouldn’t be, rather.
Drunkards. Rowdies. Blood-stained sickles. Streets filled with garbage. That’s how most of the films stereotype north Madras, including Kuppathu Raja. Baba Bhaskar attempts to tell the story of Rocket (GV Prakash) as we get a peek into the lives of people in this locality. At the same time, Baba Bhaskar’s camera is more tempted to show Poonam Bajwa’s waist and navel. This happens more than once as one of the kids casually tells Rocket, “Show paatha illa, enaku kaasu kudu!” I hope you get the reference. Throughout the film, Mary (Poonam Bajwa) is called ‘biscoth aunty’, and I wonder why she agreed to act in this. There’s obscenity, derision in the guise of humour and double entendres.
A character refers to Mary as “piece”. “Pudhu piece-a iruku”, asks one of them, and the other replies, “Palichchunu irundha paarvaigal padathaan seiyyum.” Rocket approaches Mary and says, “neenga semma katta!” Worst, Mary doesn’t react to it. She stays true to her name and sports a calm expression on her face all the time.
The plot of Kuppathu Raja is like any other average gangster film. This template is recycled film after film, with no progression in thought, and there’s hardly any aspect of nuance found in the making.
Parthiepan plays Rajendran, an ardent fan of MGR. In the beginning, Rocket doesn’t like him. But a series of untoward incidents make Rocket believe in Rajendran. There’s another parallel track involving a gang that gets sucked into a crime, nurtured by other gangsters in the locality. How Rocket handles the challenges thrown at him forms the rest of the story.
It’s high time the makers stopped taking digs at one’s appearance, which isn’t funny. Yogi Babu, as usual, is used for this purpose. His ‘comedy’, which is occasionally funny, overstays its welcome.
Palak Lalwani makes a mediocre debut with this GV Prakash Kumar-starrer. Kuppathu Raja could have been much more if the writing was great but it settles for the bare minimum. The film fails to live up to its title.
Verdict: Avoid this below-the-belt awful mess. One minute of silence for me who thought there was a story in Kuppathu Raja.
