Perusu

Perusu absolutely delivers as a funeral comedy, with every cast member trying their best to make us laugh. It has some middling stretches too, but as a film, it succeeded in cracking the rather difficult genre of crude humour. Writer-director Ilango Ramanathan deserves a lot of credit for pulling this off, primarily since most of the hilarity revolves around a single aspect. Beyond the initially funny reactions, it could've easily turned into a dull drama but the screenplay keeps churning out situational humour in spades, with all characters carrying both a quirky and an emotional side. The emotional angle doesn't necessarily land the intended way, yet it isn't something I was overly bothered by, given how the plot and the performances succeeded in their one big task.

Halasyam is an popular elderly man in the village and when he dies of natural causes, his elderly son finds him with a hard on problem. Along with his younger brother, he tries to covering this issue which is standing tall. However, they find it difficult to hide it from a nosy neighbor as well as an auto rickshaw driver. How does the whole family tries their best to cover up the embarrassing situation until the funeral, forms rest of the story.

The simple plot could have been a short film at best is dragged into feature length film and it gets evident in the initial 15mins itself as the jokes started getting repetitive and stretched. The performances especially by Sunil Reddy as the elderly son, tried to carry the jokes but the writing allows him only such much to work with. It's an unique concept and the attempt is to create genuine laughs but stretching this into a 2hr film is where the writers falter despite it being a remake. This is mainly due to the supporting characters being reduced to caricatures and they remain as predictable as they could get. Even the one liners fall flat and the half hearted attempt at l comedy with post-martem being responded to as post master-ah, doesn't help much to the proceedings.

"Perusu" kicks off with a delightful burst of humor, delivering laugh-out-loud moments throughout its first half. The film sets a strong comedic tone early on, making for an engaging watch. Had the second half maintained the same momentum, it could have easily ranked among the year's top entertainers. Dark comedy is a challenging genre to execute, but this film navigates it with commendable finesse, ensuring the humor remains sharp yet thoughtful.

Adding to its strength, every actor embodies their character with maximum precision, bringing depth and authenticity to each role. The characters are well-defined, making their performances even more compelling and memorable.

#KiduMovie.

The movie is simply the best and couldn't stop laughing. The portrayals of the characters, depiction of change in the emotions, desperation and realism are at the best in this movie.

You cannot predict what will be the next action each character takes. And the aftermaths of these actions are just hilarious and makes you think what will you do if you were in their place.

I don't know whether this movie is inspired from other life's story or not. If it was, I would like to interview them and ask their version of story. Because, the story of the movie is out of box and I am sure the writers and the production team might have their own equal share of laughter too while making this movie.

"Perusu" just redefined "adult comedy" with "family drama" with a side of, shall we say, stiff competition.

Alright, picture this: Imagine grandpa kicks the bucket, but instead of peacefully stiffening into a respectable corpse, he decides to go full-on with a bang.

And the bang is... well, let's just say he's pulling a "standing ovation" that lasts hours as rigor mortis took a vacation, and rigor erectus decided to crash the funeral. Yes, you read that right. The entire revolves around a family's desperate attempt to hide grandpa's enthusiasm from the nosy village, turning grief into a slapstick comedy of errors. Was it a dignified send-off?

Coming to the performances, Vaibhav, as the kudikaaran (drunkard), is perfect as Duraikannu. He is a sloshed dude who stumbles, he mumbles, and he manages to land some genuinely hilarious one-liners with Bala Saravanan, proving he's still got that "Meiyadha Maan" charm.

Sunil, as Samikannu, is the standout in the movie. He is like the poor paavam anna (elder brother) trying to keep his brother from messing everything up. His face when Redin Kingsley spills the school-love-story? Priceless.

Redin Kingsley as the auto driver does his usual signature acrobatics. He returns later, a walking spoiler alert for the family's secrets, ready to unleash maximum comedic pandemonium. Karunakaran, the funeral home owner, prays for more dead people like it's a lottery jackpot, which is both morbid and hilarious.

Munishkanth is great addition, he is on a mission to prove the existence of ahem, anatomical anomaly. But constantly gets fooled left and right, slowly and driven to the brink of insanity.

Additionally, the women in the film are relegated to the sidelines, but they do their best, especially the nosy neighbour who's basically a human CCTV camera.

Amidst all the chaos and thatha's standing-issue, there's a surprisingly touching "brothers in arms" moment where Durai and Samikannu bond over booze and share moment of genuine connection with their Perusu.

On the downside, the duration of the movie is the spoilsport. The movie has its moments, it's funny at times but gets a little lame over and over again, like it's just brief chuckles and a few little laughs. I mean that the movie is fairly engaging, but I think it could have been thought out a little better.

Overall, "Perusu" is your perfect lazy evening cure, best enjoyed with friends, food, and maybe a few drinks.