Bodinayakanur Ganesan - Treading a familiar path
After 'Madurai Sambavam', Harikumar is back with a movie that is again set against rural milieu and loaded with commercial elements to appease front-benchers. There is action, humour, romance and emotions in �Bodinayakanur Ganesan'.
Director O Gnanam has penned the script keeping in mind the 'emotions' of a rural youth and he is heavily inspired by 'Paruthiveeran' in the characterization of Harikumar, who has comedian Soori giving him company all through.
Harikumar plays the lead role of Ganesan, around whom the whole movie revolves. Arundhathi of 'Veluthukattu' fame plays the heroine and unlike contemporary cinema where an actress appears and disappears, she has a meaty role to play in 'Bodinayakanur Ganesan'.
Ganesan (Harikumar) and his friend Gilaki (Soori) incur the wrath of everyone in the village for they sell arrack and ganja. They work under a local goon Thiruvachi (Sai Ravi). Frequent jail birds, Ganesan and Jilaki spend their leisure in a mentally-challenged home in the village where Ganesan's brother is admitted.
Enters a nurse Saraswathi (Arundhathi) in Ganesan's life and it is love at first sight for him. But knowing about Ganesan, she stays away from him. She urges Ganesan to reform and then come to her.
Twist in the tale is that Thiruvachi, the bad man in the town, too decides to marry Saraswathi. Ganesan takes on Thiruvachi. A flashback reveals that Thiruvachi and Ganesan have lots of issues to settle between them since their childhood. The battle culminates with the fight to hold Saraswathi's hands. Who emerges the winner forms the climax.
Harikumar does his part well, playing to the gallery. His punch lines are passable. A choreographer-turned-actor, he excels in dance sequences. At places, he seems to speak loud.
Soori comes all through the film quite like what Saravanan did in 'Paruthiveeran'. Watch out for Sai Ravi, the baddie who speaks from his stomach. He oozes violence in his words.
Prabhakar's camera captures Bodinayakanur lush green locales in a beautiful way. The fish catching festival has been shot well. Thyagu's sets compliment the camera work. Anal Arasu's stunt sequences form the backbone for the film.
John Peter's music reminds songs of yesteryear Ilayaraja. A couple of numbers are catchy while the racy stuff 'Vanchira Meenu...' is hummable. Gnanam, who has directed the film, seems to have made it a commercial cocktail. But a sense of deja vu prevails as we watch 'Bodinayakanur Ganesan'.
