Movie Review : Kurangu Pedal
A group of 4 young boys in a small village (in the 80's) , spend their summer holidays indulging in innocent pleasures.
One day they decide to hire a cycle and learn to ride it. They pool in money for the hire. But Mariappan ( Santhosh Velmurugan) the youngest, son of a weaver Kandasamy (Kaali Venkat) has no money to contribute. One day he manages to get the 50 paise an hour required for the hire but his friends go with a rich boy's new cycle leaving him to ride alone
They kids thus get into a fight and Mariyappan decides to learn cycling alone. He starts stealing money from home to meet the hirin charges.
One day he hires the cycle but goes overtime with it. This means that he has not enough money to pay the cycle shop owner. What happens next?
The film is a delightful trip down memory lane, into happier, innocent times when people treasured the small joys of life.
The locations are superbly chosen giving the viewer glimpse of the village life, like the local cinema hall, the farmlands, the village fair, the market place and the simple life of village folk. The camerawork is just superb. The BGM by Ghibran transports you to a bygone era.
Scenes like the boy and his father in a boat in the river, the scenes in the temple, the relationships between Mariappa and his father, with his friends, sister and his fear of the military man, remain in memory long after. The climax scenes with a breath taking view and a lesson on friendship, are scenes that touch a chord.
The sequences between the young boys are touching and bring a smile at the same time.
The scenes with the all important cycles are thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining.
The dialogues and lyrics have a uniquely endearing quality.
All the child actors have lived their roles, and so wonderfully brought to life the sheer innocence of the era, with excellent performances, (especially Mariappa) and have superbly brought out the little joys, fights, despair hopes and desires, brilliantly. The child actors are little gems of actors.
Kaali Venkat has given another fantastic performance. This delightful film is yet another feather in his cap.
The crisp runtime and well paced out screenplay is another plus.
The film is based on a novel called ' Cycle' by Rasi Azhagappan, brought to life by the exemplary touch of director Kamala Kannan, based on true life instances. Producer Sivakarthikeyan Productions deserves kudos for backing a film like this.
The significance of a cycle in village life is superbly brought out.
A film with no villains, no violence nor bad language, is superbly engaging for both children and adults.
A film with emotions, humor, life lessons and a return to innocent times, a delightful and touching coming of age, slice- of- life, clean and most engaging entertainer, Kurangu Pedal is a delightful watch for the entire family. A Not to be missed film!
Rating 4 / 5
KURANGU PEDAL CAST AND CREW
CAST:
Nataraja Service Kandhasamy - Kali Venkat
Mariyappan - master Santhosh Velmurugan
Needhi Manikkam - master Raghavan
Selvam - master Gnyanasekar
Mani -master Saiganesh
Angurasu -master Rathish
Military - Prasanna Balachandran
Drunkard - Jenson Diwakar
Sister - Dhakshana
Mother - Savithri
Teacher - Chella
Puppet Play Person- Guberan
CREW:
Director - KamalaKannan
Producer - Sivakarthikeyan, Savitha Shanmugam and SuMee Baskaran
Banner - Sivakarthikeyan Productions
Production - Montage Pictures
Co-Producer - Sanjay Jayakumar, Kalai Arasu
Distributor - Arudra Films
Music - Ghibran Vaibodha
Editor - Shivanandeeswaran
Sound Designer - Antony B J Ruban
Cinematography - SuMee Baskaran
Screenplay - Kamalakannan, Prabhakar Shanmugam
Dialogue - Prabhakar Shanmugam
Lyrics - Dir. Bramma, BO. Manivannan, ND. Rajkumar
Art Director - Sathees Sivan, Suresh Thilagavathi
Children Trainer - NandhaKumar
Colorist - G Balaji
Film Mix - Sivakumar
PRO - Suresh Chandra D'One
Designs - Lokesh Kandhasamy
