Naanum Rowdydhaan

Right in the opening scene of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, director Vignesh Shivan makes it clear what we are in for — a quirky — and at times darkly funny — comedy. We see a young boy, Pandian, sitting inside a prison cell, and just when we think that he is a juvenile prisoner, we are shown that he is actually the son of the station's inspector, Meenakumari. He strikes up a conversation with a small-time gangster (Naan Kadavul Rajendran, who gets a funny scene later on, which involves a pistol which makes a 'meow' sound when it goes off) in the cell, and this inspires him s much that he decides that he wants to become only a rowdy and not a police officer.

The boy grows up into a young man (Vijay Sethupathy) who behaves like a rowdy (his den is painted with fluorescent paint where the rates of various jobs (from cutting off one's hand to cross calling are graffitied), even though the only tussles that he is asked to mediate is between schoolboys. And the story he had heard from the prisoner in the cell impacts his life once again. A character from the story, Kadambari walks into his life. She is a hearing-impaired girl whose cop father, who had gone after Killivalavan (Parthiban), the gangster-politician responsible for his wife's death, is missing and she requests him to track him down. Pandian is smitten by the girl and decides to help her. Things come to a stage when Kadambari tells him that she will live with him only if he can defeat the gangster who took away the people close to her.

The plot might come across as a serious revenge drama, but Vignesh Shivan displays a lightness of touch throughout that makes the film so much fun. And, he keeps things breezy even when situations get serious. There is always a funny one-liner or a bouncy musical cue waiting to make us relax, and the comical and emotional beats of the film are brought together seamlessly in an admirable way. He is aided in this task by his music director Anirudh's rollicking score (and songs, whic...