‘Gulu Gulu’ movie review: Santhanam’s black comedy dishes a few laughs but nothing more

What’s Google trying to find?

No, we aren’t referring to the favored Web search engine, however to Santhanam, who is known as Google on this newest black comedy. He is from a faraway land, however he travels many international locations, solely to by some means make his solution to Chennai, the place he turns into so keen on the individuals and the language that the globetrotter decides to ‘calm down’, doing odd jobs and serving to individuals. They are saying, ‘Vandhaarai Vazhavaikkum Thamizhagam’ (Tamil Nadu nurtures those that come to dwell right here). It does so for Google too.

In the meantime, in one other a part of town, a funeral is on, and two brothers are offended that their half-sister is at it. They’re decided that she does not see her father’s face, even when it is for the final time. Elsewhere, there is a teen who desires to check his busy father’s love in direction of him. How are all these interconnected, it’s possible you’ll ask. They’re, within the Rathna Kumar-directed Gulu Gulu’s universe.

Gulu Gulu has loads of foolish conditions puncturing the intense happenings, however the story is as previous because the hills. A motley group is engaged in a kidnap and issues go haywire. A gang concerned in one thing severe will get entangled on this mess. There is a case of mistaken id too, and all this ties in with Mr Google, who has to type it out.

There are a couple of laughs right here and there, particularly with respect to the ‘pisnaari kidnappers’, as Mariyam George and firm have been described on this movie’s teaser. This ends in hilarious conditions within the first half, however after the preliminary guffaws, the jokes begin drying up. The don and his ‘ineffective villain’ brother aren’t menacing as they should be. And the sub-plots, particularly a few woman with an distinctive phobia and a few rowdy duo, don’t have any explicit relevance to the primary storyline.

At 150 minutes, Gulu Gulu is overtly lengthy and as soon as the jokes dry up, you retain taking a look at your watch. For Santhanam, nonetheless, that is actually an experiment price selecting, as a result of it doesn’t depend on his comedy counters alone to impress audiences. As a personality too, Google is an attention-grabbing alternative in his profession and one thing you would not count on him to choose up. Nevertheless it fairly does not end result within the madcap movie that he would have anticipated it to be.

A nonetheless from Santhanam’s ‘Gulu Gulu’
| Photograph Credit score: Particular Association

Composer Santhosh Narayanan has enjoyable with the tunes, and his music right here is unusual and offbeat. Tunes like ‘Maatna Gaali’ or ‘Amma Nah Nah’ completely match the scenario, however one wonders if all this musical irreverence will work a couple of weeks down the road on the common listener.

Director Rathna Kumar, who made Meyadha Maan and Aadai earlier and has contributed to Lokesh Kanagaraj’s initiatives as nicely, has taken a brand new path with Gulu Gulu. Whereas that’s considerable, the end result is not precisely the chortle riot that it should have been, because of the writing being far and wide. They named their lead character Google, however didn’t search sufficient for a coherent screenplay.

Gulu Gulu is presently operating in theatres