With quite a star-studded cast in the form of Vishnu Vishal, Catherine Tresa, and Soori, Kathanayagan makes no big bones about delivering anything different or moments that make you laugh out loud. It is a quintessential commercial film about the hero, his beautiful girl, his sidekick friend, and his loving family.
We don’t expect a great story when you step into a theatre to watch a no-brainer comedy like Kathanayagan, but still, you would want the film to have enough funny moments that keep you entertained throughout. Maybe if Kathanayagan had more comedy scenes like the one in the climax, its outlook would have been completely different. When the screenplay doesn’t engage you so much, and when it doesn’t have enough amusing moments, you cannot afford to have a shallow storyline.
The core plot is not clear enough as the film starts as a love story where the hero attempts to win the approval of his girlfriend’s father, but it takes a different route before the interval point. So there wasn’t enough clarity in the way the film was heading which seemed to be the biggest drawback of all.
Vishnu - Soori chemistry which has worked wonders in the past, doesn’t deliver much. You don’t get a generous dosage of enjoyable comedy, but one or two scenes might still make you smile. The presence of Anand Raj brings about a chuckle now and then. Probably the best parts of the film are the pre-climax portion with Anand Raj and the Motta Rajendran's portion which would give the audience a couple of laugh moments.
The actors aren't required to exert much, given the easy nature of the film. Vishnu is a seasoned campaigner when it comes comedy movies, and he gives a typical performance. Going by Soori’s track record, we expect more from him as his portions lacked fizz due to his overused body language and dialogue delivery. Catherine was mainly glamour driven, and her love part with Vishnu could have had a little more depth.
Director Muruganandham could have focussed on a better screenplay and comedy content to deliver a simpler story. You get a standard output from the technical departments as well. To sum up Kathanayagan, there is nothing new and doesn’t provide funny enough, good moments.