I normally avoid watching movies in a cinema hall unless it is filled with special effects or something which demands a large screen and loud sounds. So here I was, entering a cinema hall to watch Quick Gun Murugun (QGM).
The problem with all comedies is that it has to grab you within the first 3 minutes. Attention is easy to grab, but difficult to retain. In action movies, you can step down the tempo with relief scenes or other movie making tricks, but with comedies, you cannot lose the tempo and you cannot rehash the same thing over and over again.
There is a simple plot of evil villain wanting to take over the world with a perfect dosa to keep the movie going, but it is not the soul.
From a viewer perspective, I felt that QGM lacked a vista. It is obviously noticeably that it is not a big budget movie, otherwise I suppose the film would have been panoramic and given me a more fulfilling cinema hall experience. It is a movie made for the sake of making movies and not money making. If the movie carries by word of mouth and does a Blair Witch Project and a sequel / prequel is approved, I would like to see film making passion increased exponentially - along with special effects, action and drama. But the special effects in the film is surprisingly good.
My overall impression of QGM was that an opportunity for making cult classic may be lost. The film showcases a director's love for making films and not money generating love. The script was brilliant in places but dragged in equal number of other instances. The acting was adequate, but did not make me love or hate the personalities. In some of the action sequences, the editing faults were a little too obvious to me.
The film focuses too much on the central characters, which is actually a good thing since you can devote more time and space with them, but I would have preferred a John Woo or a Wong Kar Wai or even the Sergio Leone treatment of the main characters. You need to be under the skin of these characters and empathise with them. I would also have personally preferred a more national flavour rather than limiting it to the south of India using the Bengali, Punjabi, Bihari and other fine Indian nuances.
The film was a light experience and as an after thought, made me want to watch more. These are the kind of carbon elements that the big producers should be focusing on. Not producing loud movies or having characters hamming in the name of comedy.
Somehow, the only line that remains imprinted in my mind and brings a wistful smile is "Lizzen no ..."
