Vijay Sethupathi, Tanya Ravichandran, Emotional scenes, Dialogues between husband and wifeVijay Sethupathi, Tanya Ravichandran, Emotional scenes, Dialogues between husband and wifeAges old revenge story, Editing, Music, Screenplay, Direction

Makkal Selvan Vijay Sethupathi is in the form of his life with two significant flicks this year, the hit Kavan, and the Blockbuster Vikram Vedha (his career's biggest grosser). With this most happening actor joining hands with the director of the critically acclaimed Renigunta, Panneerselvam, it was expected that Karuppan will be a sure shot winner for all parties concerned. Has the rural mass entertainer satisfied the expectations? Here's AP Herald's exclusive review of Vijay Sethupathi's Karuppan.


Karuppan (Vijay Sethupathi) is a Jallikattu player, and a happy go lucky youngster, who gets to marry Anbuchelvi (Tanya) after taming her brother Maayi's (Pasupathi) bull. This irks Maayi's brother in law Kathir (Bobby Simha) who had always wanted to marry Anbuchelvi. As Karuppan turns responsible after realising Anbuchelvi's love, Kathir schemes to create a rift between Maayi and Karuppan and succeeds as well. As Kathir keeps plotting to paint Karuppan bad, and marry Anbuchelvi, the issues in the family deepen, and whether Karuppan ultimately foiled Kathir's plans to unite with Anbuchelvi is what the shoddy Karuppan is all about.

It's a surprise that Vijay Sethupathi chose to star in this script, as the man, who usually amazes with his natural charm and screen presence, struggles hard to make Karuppan loveable, only in vain. Though he manages to evoke very few laughs with his on-screen antics, Karuppan doesn't offer Vijay Sethupathi enough scope to brighten up the proceedings with his typical, casual acting, and that's where the poorly etched Karuppan suffers badly.


Tanya is apt for her role, and emotes well. It's pathetic that a national award winner like Bobby Simha has been reduced to a mere caricature, and has been given a role which is a replica of his "Iraivi" role ( he eyes Vijay Sethupathi's character's wife in this one as well, and schemes to get her). With his character being unattended by Panneerselvam, Bobby is more of a property than a performer in this flick. Pasupathi gets to play a very stereotypical role, and it's a cakewalk for him. While Singampuli tries to generate laughs, Kaveri and Linga are underutilized in insignificant roles.

Sakthivel's cinematography captures the Jallikattu sequences deftly, while V.T.Vijayan's editing could have been much better as Karuppan's already boring narrative is laced with unwanted songs at unwarranted moments in the screenplay. Neither the Songs nor BGM by D.Imman appeal, as all the songs fall flat, and Karuppan most importantly lacks scenes that elevate heroism to actually deserve a goosebumps background score.


Panneerselvam promised a lot with his debut Renigunta, and though his second flick 18 Vayasu was a forgettable attempt, his combination with Makkal Selvan Vijay Sethupathi was expected much, as the actor was considered a wise script selector. However, with Karuppan, Vijay Sethupathi smashes that belief, as the plot is as old as hills, and despite being much reminiscent of a rural action- emotional entertainer like Komban, fails to serve an engaging screenplay. 

Panneerselvam's characters are poorly conceived, as none of them think and act, making the whole of Karuppan badly predictable. In a traditional hero Vs Villain rural flick, the villain must be a tough contest for the hero, but here, Bobby joins hands with the priest to plot against Karuppan, and his character not just reminds of his own Iraivi act, but towards the climax funnily even reminds one of Kanden kaadhalai's Santhanam (when he makes an outburst to his sister that he had been loving Tanya for 18 years, just like how Santhanam says to his sister when they approve Bharath-Tamannaah love). There's no reason for Sarath Lohitaswa's character to even exist in this screenplay, and no space for even a talented artist like Vijay Sethupathi to brighten the dull proceedings.


Panneerselvam plot is in the 80s, but his treatment is stuck even earlier to those times that you feel pity for Makkal Selvan as to what he's doing in this 2 hours 18 minutes snorefest. All said, Karuppan is a badly presented rural mass entertainer, with age old sequences and is a huge letdown. Vijay Sethupathi's quest for that one mass masala flick that can turn him a commercial mass hero is set to continue, as Karuppan, just like last Dussehra's Rekka (a much better commercial movie compared to Karuppan), is a downer. 

Vijay Sethupathi,Bobby Simha,Tanya,Panneerselvam,A. M. Rathnam,D. ImmanEven Vijay Sethupathi can't save this drowning Karuppan.

మరింత సమాచారం తెలుసుకోండి: