Ko

Headline. Scoop. Byte. Edition. These words are familiar with all journalists. For a layman it's the newspaper that he reads finally counts. A photojournalist-turned-director, K V Anand, with 'Ko', has rendered a movie that is like reading a newspaper fresh and folded very early in the morning from page one till the last.

Journalists are until known to be portrayed in a clichéd manner in Tamil cinema, wearing a pyjama kurtha, spotted with a beard carrying a long shoulder bag. Times have changed and so are the lives and struggles of journalists.

With 'Ko', Anand has turned the arc light on the unsung heroes of modern India, the neo-journalists, their dedication and passion towards the profession.

Anand has proved his mettle coming with intense thrillers with great detailing, thanks to writers Suba in his side as it was evident in 'Kanna Kandein' and 'Ayan'.

'Ko' speaks about power struggle and press freedom, laced with all commercial ingredients in an interesting manner. All credits should go to the script and screenplay. Tautly written, there are hardly any logical loopholes.

Be it a hardworking scribe or a photographer who are chasing sensation news, a power-lust Chief Minister, or an opposition leader, or a youth who wants to change the political system, all characters do have a say in the film. Anand has woven all of them craftily.

The movie revolves around Ashwin (Jeeva), who is a talented photographer in a Tamil daily Dina Anjali. He is the sought-after lensman in his newspaper for his images speak a thousand words and bring awareness.

There are a couple of other journalists in the same media house- Renuka (Karthika), who covers sensational events and entertainment -in-charge Saro (Piya). They develop an affinity for Ashwin.

A battle begins in Tamil Nadu as Assembly elections are announced. It becomes a direct war between Chief Minister Yogeswaran (Prakash Raj) and opposition leader Alavandan (Kota Sreenivasa Rao). As typical politicians, as they are portrayed, they do everything under the sun to come to power.

But Renuka and Ashwin's brilliant investigative reports and photographs, help a third force led by youth Vasanthan (Ajmal) emerge the front-runner. He is a symbol of modern Indian youth who believes in clean politics.

At an election rally of Vasanthan, a bomb goes off killing Saro. Vasanthan goes on to win the polls. Now the onus falls on Ashwin and Renuka to find the real culprits behind the attack. Get ready to watch an unpredictable climax.

Jeeva is impressive and played his part exceedingly well. He looks a typical photojournalist. His body language and dialog delivery are worth a watch. An intense performer, Jeeva pulls it off with ease.

Karthika as Renuka brings out the nuances needed for the role well. She has not exaggerated. She downplays her emotions to gel with the character. Ajmal is a revelation as an aspiring politico Vasanthan. His looks compliment the character.

The veterans Prakash Raj and Kota Sreenivasa Rao have played their part well. They have given right emotions needed for the roles. Piaa in the supporting character is adequate. Watch out for Sona in a cameo. Chinmayi's dubbing for Karthika is apt.

Harris Jayaraj is a major attraction. All his songs pep up the environment. 'Ennamo Yedho...' is pick of the album.

Anand deserves all accolades for rendering a brisk entertainer that is devoid of clichés. Racy all through, it is a movie that is worth a watch, if you are really not bothered about logic at certain places.

Good Movie. Everybody acted very well in the movie. Songs and BGM in the movie were so good. The 1st half in the movie was so interesting and thrilling. The 2nd half in the lagged and bored a lot at some scenes. Good Movie.

Expectations of the film was high. Successful director, Production house with wide reach, protagonist is a photographer(a rare phenomenon), great trailer song. But that's the end of the positives. Film could not deliver anything more on the show day. It is the same old story : "Hero fights the bad guys all by himself and saves the world" Couple this formula with unrealistic situations( which,by the way, are abundant in this film), an heroine who cant "act". Moreover few songs were just "inserted" into the plot.They just didn't fit in.

Overall a normal movie pictured in a good way.Definitely watchable.But highly overrated.

The reason why the story of KO feels to be so strong comparing to other aspects of the film is that, the story seems more similar to Kevin MacDonald's 2009 block buster, STATE OF PLAY, starring Russell Crowe and Ben Afflect. I feel that Ko is the same story of SOP, with a screenplay to suit tamil cinema. Jeeva plays the role of Russell Crowe while Ajmal takes Ben Affleck's. The saddest part is that having the original movie released a couple of years back , the desi director couldn't improvise the screenplay. I feel for people who haven't seen SOP, would find KO impressive, others who have seen SOP would have a Stomach Burn, as i did. More drawbacks, heroine who doesn't know to act, doesn't know to dance. Lame music by the ace music director, and irrelevant bgm throughout the movie.

After Ayan, everyone has been eagerly anticipating for Ko since the teaser was released. K.V. Anand has done a wonderful job in his third film as a director with a full-fledged political thriller with adequate doses of romance and humour without deviating from the original story. It is not exactly a good-versus-bad theme here unlike most of other movies with political themes. But unexpected twists will keep the audience glued to their seats.

Jiiva as Ashwin excels in his role as a photographer. Karthika Nair marked her debut with a decent performance while Piaa Bajpai fulfills the requirements of her role well. The show stealer is undoubtedly Ajmal. His performance as a youth revolutionary leader is outstanding. Stalwarts like Prakashraj and Kota Srinivasa Rao played their characters with their usual finesse.

The highlight of the film is the cinematography. Richard M.Nathan did a wonderful job with the camera. Be it the fights or the songs, he shot the scenes with sheer brilliance. The locales of Norway and China are spellbinding and eye-catching, thanks to the cinematographer's efforts.

Harris Jayaraj did a superb job in Ayan and he repeated the magic in Ko as well. The BGM is apt for the scenes although it was a bit loud in certain parts. Anthony's editing is as usual, crisp and maintains the pace of the film well. Peter Hein's stunts are a treat for the action buffs. The songs are choreographed perfectly according to the mood of the songs. The nothing-great Gala Gala song does not live up to its pre-release build-up despite a host of well-known faces making cameo appearances.

In short, Ko is a brilliantly shot political thriller laced with the usual commercial elements. If Ayan showed us about smuggling activities, Ko is all about political revolution. Hats off to K.V. Anand for presenting us three different films with three different themes.