Cast: Aegan, Sri Devi, Femina George, Adhirchi Arun, Subramanian Sethu, Adhiyaman
Crew:
Written by Yuvaraj Chinnasamy, Hariharan Ram
Cinematography by Priyesh Gurusamy
Editing by Sakthi Pranesh P
Music by Siddhu Kumar
Directed by Yuvaraj Chinnasamy
Produced by Dr. D. Arulanandhu, Mathewo Arulanandhu
Production House: Vision Cinema House
Sri Devi has become one of the most promising young actresses of Telugu Cinema with Court. Now, he made her Tamil debut with Haiku starring Aegan. The young actor became popular featuring in web series of Black Sheep and Kana Kaaanum Kaalangal, Kozhipannai Chelladurai, Joe. Now, his father produced Haiku with Yuvaraj Chinnasamy directing it. Yuvaraj previously made Black Sheep shorts, Aaha Kalyanam, Padikathavan. Let's discuss about the film, in detail.
Plot:
Manohar (Aegan) is forced to join Arul Bodhi Girls College that became co-ed as first male student, in Coimbatore. He meets Kodi (Sri Devi) and they fall in love. He completes his Mechanical Engineering and finds a job a Designer. They fall apart and post three years, he is seen as a lead in an IT company. An intern, Nivetha (Femina George) joins the team where he is instructor. She goes through an abusive relationship but Manohar helps her earn independence over it. She falls for him but can Manohar fall in love again? Will it be different from his relationship with Kodi? Watch the movie to know more.
Analysis:
Aegan needed to be more mature to handle the differences in the complex character written for him. Also, he needed to ooze a charm of his own to make the story progression believable but the actor doesn't have the screen presence at the same level. Script needed him to rise above the written material with his performance but he is found wanting at most of the places.
Sri Devi is good in her character but in older scenes she could have been better. At places, she is still the person she played in Court. Femina George is expressive, good in romantic scenes but at many places she came across as more desperate to show a certain emotion rather than be natural. There have been places where she felt like pushing hard and being unnatural on screen.
Priyesh Gurusamy cinematography is cool and doesn't have many standout frames. But he tried his best to keep it in sync with the movie tone. Production values - mainly college and office buildings- add beauty to the visuals. Siddhu Kumar music is good but not memorable. Sakthi Pranesh's editing could have been better in the second hour as several shots seem random at places without good set-up.
Writing wise Yuvaraj, who is able to give several memorable moments in his Aaha Kalyanam doesn't really bring the same level of authenticity to his content. However actors be good or bad, writing can have the spark of carrying the emotion or delivering a punchline with ease. Here, the writing grows lethargic and draggy with resolution for issues being predictable.
Even in telling his point about how past can be seen in different ways by different people, he could not create the impact. Each scene keeps going in circle to talk about the same emotion and hence, the screenplay looks like it is stuck and there is no growth or momentum. Overall, Haiku makers created a lot of buzz prior to the release but unfortunately, movie doesn't live up to it.
Positives:
Siddhu Kumar music
Production design
Few comical scenes with Adhirchi Arun
Negatives:
Performances
Draggy Narration
Not Relatable Screenplay
Feels artificial
Bottomline: Haiku has a good point but fails to narrate it effectively.
Rating: 2/5
Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this review are personal views/opinions shared by the writer and organisation does not hold a liability to them. Viewers' discretion is advised before reacting to them.
