When it is Kamal Hassan who is around, the audience looks for nothing less than a detailed screenplay. But with 'Cheekati Rajyam', the writer Kamal changes his style to make way for a Hollywoodish narration, so to speak. Replacing elaborate scenes with pithy narration, he manages to deliver some exhilarating moments, but if you are looking for those subtle moments like in his previous films, the film doesn't throw them up any in good measure. Director Rajesh M Selva hardly shows knack for translating the screenplay into gripping moments, partly buffeted by Ghibran's deliberately uneven BGM. Perhaps the BGM was so designed with a purpose in mind, but while serving the purpose of not letting the audience feel any sense of urgency, it doesn't quite involve them into the film.
Almost entire film, based on the French film 'Sleepless Nights', is shot in a club. It is a chain of events that unfold over a night when Diwakar's (Kamal Hasan) son is kidnapped by Vittal Rao (Prakash Rao). Diwakar is a cop with the Narcotics Bureau and he is out to get his palms greased in order to expose the black sheep in his department. The film begins with an operation carried out by Kamal and Yogi Sethu and within a few minutes after the macabre incident, we are introduced to the seemingly indifferent father Kamal, his school-going son apparently not happy with the way his divorced dad.
The crime thriller doesn't waste much time before introducing the characters who have a hand in the till. The suspicions are quickly established, and the scenes in the club are well-shot, cinematography-wise (cinematography by Sanu Verghese).
The idea of a duty-minded officer having to compromise with his professional ethics is not new. However, this film explores the emotional turmoil undergone by Diwakar as he has to face a villain who is out to settle scores with him in an understated way. The bonding between the father and the son is established in a span of one scene, avoiding all the customary melodrama that is the stuff of Indian cinema.
The film doesn't go for big-ticket scenes, what with everything accomplished in a slice-of-life manner. There comes a moment, however, when the film comes across as not having the required scale. For example, the stunts involving Kamal and Trisha, and Kamal and Kishore, are choreographed well without giving one a sense of watching a film made in 2015.
Prakash Raj's character is portrayed briefly but effectively; it takes just a few lines spoken by him to Kamal Hasan for us to understand the menacing nature of his history, not to speak of his temperament. Likewise, Sampath, too, gets that kind of good treatment. Kishore and Trisha share screen space and they express much without speaking much. Kishore, one feels, was not irreplaceable, unlike the others. Trisha passes muster.
It is Kamal's movie all the way; his expression finding its way into our hearts. Watch him feeling tensed, feeling emotional, feeling helpless and dealing with a scumbag the way he deserves it. More importantly, his chemistry with the boy and his behaviour with his wife - albeit in only two or three scenes - is remarkable. However, having dubbed himself, his voice does seem a bit unsettling.
Everyone proves to be a good choice, but not everyone is irreplaceable.
Technical departments do an OK job, barring cinematography which is the best part of it.
Verdict: A crime thriller with understated performances and calm proceedings, 'Cheekati Rajyam' could have been better. To say that it must be watched for Kamal's action and his neat screenplay would be like stating the obvious.
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