Kumki

I am typing this review while the movie is playing. I am that bored. the story line is simple and would have made it good if the movie was around 75 min. too many songs and unnecessary scenes. It would have been better if the movie was based in an old time frame around 1940s. Just saw the climax, the movie sucked. nothing more needs to be said. The site apparently won't let me post a brief review - very much like the movie. The climax at the least could have been done much better. It's too brief and one cannot distinguish which amongst the elephants are winning. I read the other reviews and noticed the praise for the videography. I was not particularly impressed. With the camera technology these days any jackass with half an eye can produce mediocre pics. the music too is nothing to write home about. Having watched the story of pi, I wonder how an English man would have worked the movie. it is movies like these which justify the criticism that English movies are better than tamil ones. so you ask me what I liked best in the movie? That's easy to answer! its the end credits.

Following the success of Mynaa veteran Director Prabu Solomon comes back with a beautiful story set on the backdrop of the forests of Karnataka, Kerala and proves us once again as a unique nature loving director. The story is not just about the relationship between a mahout and his pet elephant. It unwinds to a very beautiful slow paced, emotional love story with a serious background. This movie takes us through the lives of the farmers in a village named Aadhi kaadu where their threat is a wild elephant named "Komban" which is causing havoc for so many years. So they decide to bring up another elephant to tame the wild one and send that back to the forests. These kinds of elephants are known as "kumki". Bomman (Vikram Prabu) enters with his crew (Kothali and Undiyal) and his beloved showcase elephant Manikam as a replacement take charge of this situation for two days. But he becomes a love stuck mahout when he saw Alli (Lakshmi Menon). So he decides to dare his life and fight against Komban for his love. So did he succeed in this dangerous mission? Is what the rest of the story progressing in a slow pace yet visually enchanting because of the hilly environment and the apt music. Coming to the performances this movie marks the debut for both Vikram Prabhu and Lakshmi Menon (though her first on screen release was Sundarapandiyan). Vikram Prabhu could not have imagined a perfect launch pad than this movie and he has played it well especially his expressions and looks in his eyes when he becomes love stuck with Alli. Lakshmi Menon after her praise for her acting in Sundarapandiyan gives us a brilliant performance as an innocent village girl (it's been buzzed that she is just 15 and doing her class ten!) and delivers us such a matured acting with her cute expressions specially when she accepts Vikram's love. National award winner Thambi Ramaiah as (Kothali) is the one who talks more in the movie than the lead roles and with Undiyal (Ashwin) he creates good humour on screen. The songs and BGM were so apt for the serene and situations of the movie and was brilliantly composed by D.Imman and definitely "Ayyayo anandhame", "Onnum Puriyala" and "sollitaley " are strong contenders for this year's top five songs. Hats off to the cinematographer Sukumar for making us glued to our seats by presenting something so dreamy in front on screen. On the down side I have to say about the VFX of the elephant action scenes where not up to the mark when compared to Life of Pi, Naan E. Could have been definitely better . Get inside for a Parbhu Solomon flavour movie like Mynaa this will also be 'a journey of love on an elephant'. Verdict: To get the full essence of enjoyment watch it only in theatres.

-Reviewed by Sivakumar Balachandran (bsiva84@gmail.com)

Kumki has fast become one of the many memorable movies of contemporary Tamil cinema.

Vikram Prabhu has done justice to the role. His 'Bomman' is portrayed with an integrity that remains concrete through the movie. Lakshmi Menon as 'Alli' does not have a huge role to play and is not as impressive as veteran actresses but is acceptable all the same. The comedy track with Thambi Ramaiah does get predictable and grates towards the end of the movie. Manickam does not disappoint!

That said and done the script is handled with surprising brilliance, apart from the comedy actually. The direction, music and special effects are beautiful. The location the film is shot in is very well incorporated into the film and brings to the movie a sense of realism that very few movies can capture.

A definite must watch for connoisseurs of good and worthwhile Cinema. Definitely a feather in our cap!

First of all i would like to congratulate the entire film crew for taking up a beautiful script and done it perfectly!

Cast: Vikram Prabhu: what else can he expect more than this from his debut movie! he has chosen his story carefully and has performed with brilliance. he just looks like mahout and has lived the character he played. wonderful film for him for his debut. hope he gets best debut actor award for playing his role naturally.

Lakshmi Menon: she has done a pretty fantastic job. her makeup and acting is so natural and she looks pretty. she looks exactly like a tribal girl.

Tambi Ramaiah and Asvin Raja: they have been there throughout the movie to make is engaged and laughing. good acting by them.

Direction and Screenplay: Prabhu Solomon has done his script carefully and taken it so beautifully so that even if it drags a bit, it keeps the people engaged to the movie. not even a single boring scene in the movie. he has used the special effects smartly in darkness so that it looks perfect

Music: Music by Imman is refreshing and became a huge hit among the audience. excellent reception for songs at theaters where they whistle and sing along the song! Imman has come up with another huge winner. There are tasteful melodies spread across the album while one nice foot tapping number is there as well.

Verdict: The film is a perfect family entertainer and also gives a strong message at the climax.It just shows the reality of current situation among youths. anyway the climax could have ended much more happier. nevertheless , the message conveyed gets into the mind of everyone:)

Go for the movie with your family and friends and i am sure you wont be disappointed. a good meaningful movie which must not be missed.

Watched Kumki which has a Simple sweet story. I have Lived with elephant and greenery for 2.5 hours.

The excellent part is the Visuals and Sound effects.

Terrible CGI and Good BGM and Usually songs boring pace of the story goes fast last 20 Mina with CGI overdose.

The story has a similarity of Ten Samurais and Myna Background.

Imman has done a good job but his movies has lot of songs plagiarized from his previous ones with the Raja tunes.

But songs sometimes drag the movie too much.

Casting was good and the live elephant shots and Non CGI shots were good.

Thambhi Ramiah overacting and most of the scenes are shot in Bluescreen.

Low budget technical movie to debut a hero in this scenario...

Anyways watchable once..