Kurangu Pedal Movie Review

Kurangu Pedal is a Tamil directed by Kamalakannan. He along with C. Azhagappan and Prabhakar Shanmugam has written the screenplay. This film features Prasanna Balachander, Jensan Diwakar Bio coming soon... >> Read More... , Sai Ganesh, M. Gnanasekar, V.R. Raghavan, Rathish, Santhosh Velmurugan, Kaali Venkat Kali Venkat hails from a rural village named Kovil >> Read More... and others. Ghibran has given the music for this film. The producers of this film are Kalai Arasu Bio coming soon... >> Read More... , Sumee Baskaran Sumee Baskaran is an Indian cinematographer, produ >> Read More... , Sanjay Jayakumar, Savitha Shanmugam, and Sivakarthikeyan. Sumee Baskaran is the cinematographer of this film. Shivanandeeswaran is the editor of this movie.

Plot

Set in the backdrops of the 80s, Mariyappan and his three friends aspire to learn bicycling during their summer holidays. But in that village, it is considered a privilege, as not everyone can afford to buy bicycle. So, Mariyappan and his friends rent a bicycle to practice on their own. However, they eventually face a cash crunch, leading Mariyappan to resort to stealing. He does this not only to showcase his cycling skills to his friends but also for several other reasons. His father, who doesn't even know how to ride a bicycle, gets upset when he learns that his son has been renting a cycle for a while without his knowledge. Conflict arises, and things go out of their hands. What happens then and how innocent Mariappan resolves the issue forms the crux.

Star Performances

Santhosh, who is portraying the lead child, rightfully balances the innocence and playfulness of his character. Kaali Venkat justifies his role as the father of Mariyappan. He convincingly presents the fatherly wisdom enveloped in the economic conditions of his family. Prasanna is fans favorite because of his comedy and trickery.  The rest of the cast were pitch-perfect for their characters, the dialogue delivery and slang were on-point for the respective village backdrop.

Analysis

We all remember that the most playful and the notorious memories we make are primarily during our school summer breaks. 'Kurangu Pedal' is a nostalgic attempt to recreate our summer break memories into a film, where a group of friends wants to learn how to ride a bicycle. It also delves into father-son bonding and the childhood innocence in the 80s era. Its grounded and simple story makes it relatable for the audience. The movie beautifully conveys that the school summer holidays are the best; it has many highlight sequences to tap the nostalgic factor like the cycle episodes, stealing money from the piggyback, going to movie theatres just for the food, playing all day with friends, etc. The protagonist Mariyappan is one such notorious boy who badly wants to learn cycling and he can go to any extent for that. Eventually, he falls into trouble, bringing complications into his life. But despite these predictabilities and the somewhat flat writing, the director manages to give us the experience we would expect from this film’s genre. Not much to complain about the unhurried pace as there are good enough laughable stretches and feel-good moments. The comic element is skillfully amalgamated into the story. The film’s characters are portrayed decently; however, their backstory could have been a little more descriptive, yet they were smartly presented without moving away from the flow. Though the film successfully creates the nostalgic feeling around our childhood, it fails at the emotional front of the story. Ghibran’s songs are passable; they might sound well for the setting but nothing extraordinary.

On the other hand, his background score smoothly travels along the thick of the story. The photogenic landscapes of Salem and the villages around are captured well by cinematographer SuMee. His neat camera work and adherence to the color palette add the utmost value to the movie. It helped the film to a great extent.  Seamless editing that doesn’t disturb the flow of the movie. However, the quality has been compromised due to budget issues.

What’s There?

• The performances by the stellar star cast made viewers relive their childhood.
• Decent screenplay and impactful dialogues enhance the quality.

What’s Not There?

• This film’s second half feels a bit laidback.
• The budgetary constraints are pretty evident.

Verdict

Despite the flaws and falters, Kurangu Pedal provides a nostalgic journey with its nuanced character portrayals and engaging writing. It is a slow burn rural drama that gets many things right, engages well with many lively humor portions, a worthy enough straightforward film which is sure to rekindle some pleasant nostalgia.