My "Apoorva Sahodarargal" review

Hi folks!

Warning - it contains spoilers.

I decided to review an Indian film starring Kamal Haasan - Apoorva Sahodarargal - by Srinivasa Rao Singeetam. It is a pathbreaking movie from the late 80´s and was a big hit in south India. Please read my review and watch the movie if you can.

When a great director and genius actor are paired, magic is bound to happen, especially when their ideas are fully materialized. That is the case in Apoorva Sahodarargal. This is probably the most creative film in Indian cinema. It takes the classical ingredients in Indian revenge films, like: the brothers being separated in young age as a result of a villainous act which broke their family, and their casual reunion when they're grown up, which is followed with a revenge plan to kill the villain.

However, what distinguishes Apoorva Sahodarargal from other films which follow that storyline is its highly creative execution. One sibling is a dwarf and this opens a scope for a comic feel in the movie, transforming a revenge film in a highly comical experience.

Kamal Haasan plays three roles - Raghu, Raja and Appu. Father and sons by this order. Raja is a mechanic and Appu a dwarf. The highlight of the movie is Appu, the dwarf working in a circus. Upon accidentally discovering that he belongs to a family which was split when he was a baby, Appu becomes psycho and plans a series of murders to kill all the persons involved in the destruction of his family.

What comes next is hilarious to say the least. We get to see a dwarf murdering the villains, one by one, in the most comic ways it could happen. He plants funny traps to execute the villains and has his share of laughter at the cost of those murders. The scene where Appu carries a magic wand while smiling to the villain and posing an authoritarian posture is just awesome. It’s the scene which defines Kamal Haasan's genius and displays his limitless creativity.

Raja is a common man. Nothing special here. But Kamal deserves applause for his
interpretation of Appu. Its a groundbreaking performance not because the looked like a dwarf, but he gives an amazing personality to the character, by playing Appu in a comic light, thus adding layers of insanity to the character, a dwarf serial killer! But his performance is very diversified and one gets to know the softer side of his persona. The part where he breaks up in tears in the court room, for signing as witness for the marriage of the woman he loves, is a class act.

The movie is also path-breaking on the technical front. It’s amazing how they managed to make the dwarf look so real, even though the film was made 20 years ago.

I also liked Gouthami. She is a good actor and unbelievably hot+cute, LOL! The songs are nice. I liked "raja kayavaja" the most. It’s damn funny.