After starring in offbeat thrillers, Jayam Ravi has taken the funny track after a brief hiatus with Comali, produced by Ishari K.Ganesh under Vels Film International, a Tamil comedy written and directed by debutant Pradeep Ranganathan that stars Jayam Ravi and Kajal Aggarwal in lead roles while Yogi Babu, KS Ravikumar, and RJ Anandhi play crucial supporting roles.
The film deals with Ravi (played by Jayam Ravi), a teenager who lives through his nineties like any adolescent schoolgoer would, he falls in love with a fellow classmate Nikitha (played by Samyuktha Hegde) until his life turns upside down when he meets with a fatal accident. Ravi slips into coma and wakes up after sixteen years, only to find that the world around him has changed.
The initial portions give us the nostalgia of Ravi's world, an era when cameras are incapable of taking a selfie. The film presents a lot of quirky situations (which includes three gangsters planning a hit). The transition between the nineties flashback to 2016 was present through a nice stretch of visual comedy. There are more such instances where the humour is given through visuals and songs. The film throws a lot of pop-culture references for both eras in an organic way.
The first half really captures Ravi's alien-ness. Even the lack of medical detail in the film is tackled by the scene where ShaRa's character wonders about Ravi's sudden agility. The film presents many interesting characters, for instance, there is a reclusive kid named Mysskin, and Ravi's attempts to cheer him up and engage with the real world feels endearing. The minor plot-points and characters that were introduced in the initial portion become important in the latter half.
In the second half, we see Ravi's attempt to stand on his feet financially, as he works as a security guard and starts his own Youtube channel named Comali. Ravi's conflict with the local politician Dharmaraja (played by KS Ravikumar) who was indirectly responsible for the accident is a parallel story handled well. The subplot does not work in the lines of revenge but plays out in a lighter way with more emotions attached towards the climax. The film still gives ample scope for gags at the second half with a little hint of drama (where Jayam Ravi delivers a monologue on how emotions never change despite the change in culture).
Jayam Ravi delivers an engaging performance as a man-child who comes of age. Yogi Babu gives a credible supporting performance and his presence isn't used for cheap humour this time, he has an extended role than a comedian, plays a perfect support role throughout with good performance in serious scenes too. Kajal Agarwal plays a more of supporting role and has a less scope to perform, as Jayam Ravi & Yogi Babu has the lion share of scenes that are driven by comedy one-liners that work really well overall.
Debutant Samyuktha Hegde was good in her brief role. RJ Anandhi gives a good performance and shines in the emotional scenes. Jayam Ravi deserves a special mention for the makeover of the school portions. The transition after Jayam Ravi gets out of coma and the following screenplay is very natural and believable.
HipHop Aadhi's BGM has helped the film's youthful genre, the 'Paisa' song looks grand with the good visuals and the climax 'Nanba' song ups the emotion factor. Technically, the film is backed up with good visuals, music and the climax might look little stretched but overall nothing much yo complain. Debutant Pradeep plays a cameo but has delivered a simple story with a big heart that will be liked by kids and family audiences.
The Chennai flood scenes are executed well and have a good connection to the story's emotional climax. Jayam Ravi's acting in the important pre-climax might remind you the Santhosh Subramanian scene with Prakash Raj, but the actor had delivered the emotional scenes really well that makes you ignore the minor logical loopholes and enjoy the ride. Overall, Director Pradeep Ranganathan delivers a consistently lighter film that is powered by some noteworthy filmmaking touches.