BUFFOON MOVIE REVIEW CLICK TO RATE THE MOVIE

Buffoon is an action drama written and directed by Ashok Veerappan, and produced jointly by Stone Bench Films and Passion Studios. It has Vaibhav and Anagha in the lead roles while Joju George, Anthakudi Ilayaraja, Aadukalam Naren, Tamizh and others play supporting characters. The film has music composed by Santhosh Narayanan and cinematography by Dinesh Purushothaman.

Kumaran (Vaibhav) and his friend, (played by Anthakudi Ilayaraja) are theatre artists in their village. A powerful politician in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu decides to move away from his party, and start a new party altogether, which results in the top brass of the old party to take a few stringent measures. How does this affects Kumaran's life is what the film is all about.

Buffoon has a lot of interesting ideas on which the film could have built on. For instance, choosing to have the protagonists as theatre artists is quite unique and it is quite rare to see such roles in mainstream Tamil cinema. However, it adds an aesthetic value that does not contribute much to the plot.

Even musically, there's a song - Madichi Vechcha Vethala, where it starts off as a folk number and suddenly moves into a trance zone. Again something unique, but there is no payoff. Santhosh Narayanan is easily another hero of the film as he is in mad form with both the songs as well as the background score. More than complementing the scenes, it also adds to the engagement and lifts the scene several notches higher.

Buffoon also has some quality performances from the leads - Vaibhav and Anagha. The latter, even though she has less screen time, impresses us in scenes like the one where she has to audition/rehearse for a theater performance, or the one where is being interrogated in a jail. Among the supporting actors, Anthakudi Ilayaraja looks and acts extremely natural and is a perfect casting choice. One might also feel that a talented actor like Joju George could have been used better.

The main issues with Buffoon start with the writing which becomes generic and convenient at so many places. The police search for a man, and even the newspapers carry his photo, but still he's seen roaming around without any fear. Although there's a dialogue which is used to justify that, it doesn't feel convincing. After a point, the things also get predictable because the twist on which the film banks doesn't work as expected.

Technically, the film is marvelous, with the semi-rural aesthetics aiding the film well. The production design looks fantastic, and the art direction team has worked in tandem with cinematographer Dinesh Purushothaman, who has captured the nights of southern Tamil Nadu in an authentic way.

Overall, the film is spearheaded by the music and performances, which didn't get the much needed support to be engaging throughout, but a decent watchable crime thriller for the weekend.

BUFFOON VIDEO REVIEW