Back in early 2000’s, Friday evenings meant laughter, trolls and all that, youngsters would wait for the spoof show “Lollu Sabha” which ran successfully for two reasons; the hilarious dialogues and Santhanam. He has come a long way since the Lollu Sabha days, but to reunite and recreate the magic would certainly be special for the entire crew. Director Rambala and Santhanam join hands for 'Dhilluku Dhuddu', yet another movie that falls in the horror comedy genre. The film also stars Karunas, Anandraj, Shanaya, Mottai Rajendran and Saurabh Shukla in important roles with Thaman taking care of the music department.
In his previous flick 'Inimey Ipadithan', Santhanam recast himself into the role of a lover boy who juggles comedy along with the romantic portion. DD starts off from where he left of in 'Inimey Ipadithan', a carefree Romeo who transforms into a daring saviour in the second. The storyline is rather simple, a dude and a gal deeply, madly in love as usual are opposed by the girl’s father who sketches a plot to foil the love, hires some goons to "take care" of the hero. Thriving on this plot, the director brings in ghosts, haunted house, and a couple of comedians who take care of the fun, fear and frolic parts. Santhanam’s usual one liners and slapstick one liners are fresh and remind us of the Lollu Sabha days when he used to take center stage in bringing the roof down with hilarious dialogues.
The film’s real essence of horror and comedy comes in the second, with rib-tickling comic sequences featuring Santhanam, Mottai Rajendran, Karunas and Anandraj. We have seen ghosts alright, then came the horror comedy, DD is altogether a fresh take on horcom where the entire cast is subject to Reel Vs Real ghost drama. By the time the comedy scenes kick in you are relieved, for that is the amount of dullness in the first half with an average script and screenplay that slugs and waits for the second. The director struggles to chip in the rightful plot in the lead up to the second, in the process he brings in a romance plot with an eye candy heroine who oozes glam minus dubbing, acting, body language and reasoning.
The real drama kicks in when they move into the fictitious Sivankonda Malai which has a haunted hill top house with a troubling history. On one hand is a bunch of cartoonist rowdies who try to make this house spooky, haunted and scare the inmates and on the other is the real ghost, all these make a strong ingredient for a rib tickling laughter treat and the director drives home with rightful dosage of comic sequences and a strong cast. The film has less spooky moments and rather takes humor out of the typical horror movie sequences, like a strong wind, ghost flashes, a creaking chair with a spooky lady’s sinister laugh; but the fun part comes in finding out if the ghost is real or reel, which is the film’s X-factor. That said, the last 15 minutes looks completely misfit and could have been altered differently.
Santhanam has come a long way since being a comedian, the basement is still the same but the actor has applied what today’s Kollywood heroes do; an introductory song, heroine savior fights, dance sequences all that. While his body language during the fights is lacklustre, he dances with ease, sports a toned look and no comments required in terms of comedy as he is at his trademark best. The less said about the heroine Shanaya, the better. Karunas, Anandraj, Saurabh and TM Karthick take a large share of credits for their delightful roles. Mottai Rajendran yet again proves as the surprise package as the goon who tries hard, but falls in vain. He shares the screen with Santa in the second half equally and is exceedingly amusing.
The Art work in the climax portions looks patchy and same goes with the music with only BGM living up to the expectation. Camera from Deepak deserves some applaud by capturing the horror portions quite well.
Verdict: The concept is good, the screenplay minus the first half is good, Santa is at his level best and so is the content. 'Dhilluku Dhuddu' will certainly tickle your funny bone, but all you need to do is wait till unfolds in the second, if you have the patience.
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