On this exact day last year, I sat down exhilarated in front of my laptop, set to type the review for a love story that stirred my soul - 96. So, it is almost a cosmic catastrophe that 100% Kadhal (the remake of a Telugu film), an incorrigible romantic comedy, starring GV Prakash and Shalini Pandey, would release a year later, forever scarring this day (and my mind).
Here is where we usually warn readers of spoilers that will follow, but considering that the sole purpose of this movie is to ruin your mood and spoil your day, it barely deserve this leniency. 100% Kadhal (more like 100% Nonsense) follows the love-hate relationship between its leads Balu (GV Prakash), a self proclaimed genius, and Mahalakshmi (Shalini), his cousin from a village in Coimbatore. They both attend the same engineering college in Chennai, a miracle, considering that Mahalakshmi in her introduction scene claims that 2*2 is 5.
Balu, on the other hand, has always ranked first his entire life and plans to keep his track record untainted in college. He claims to think in algebraic formulae, several of which are scribbled on his ceiling and walls. Except, the only formula the college topper is heard reciting in the movie is a + b whole square, the answer for which the rest of us learnt in class 5. His so-called genius aside, Balu has several other notable characteristics. He is selfish, self-absorbed, misogynistic, emotionally abusive, jealous, short-tempered, narcissistic...well, you get the drift.
In short, he is anything but a hero.
But this does little to stop Mahalakshmi from falling head over heels in love with him. Does Shalini Pandey actually read scripts before she chooses a film, or is her only criteria that her character should romance an abusive man? If yes, she has done a 100% job on this one.
From the very beginning, Balu makes it a habit to torment the young woman. When she asks for his help with a subject, he says "There is no need for women to study. You will find a man who has slogged in college, gotten a good job, earning money and marry him."
When she accidentally smashes into him when the bike hits a speed-breaker, he gives her a lecture on Sigmund Freud's infatuation theory. But minutes later, he is seen ogling Mahalakshmi when she is sleeping, and wondering whether the shape of a circle was invented while staring at a woman's navel.
If director MM Chandramouli had given half the time spent on focusing the camera on Shalini's navel to the script, maybe the movie would have been passable.
But to make things worse, Balu goes on to touch her navel, scaring her out of her stupor. Clearly in all the books he read, nobody explained sexual harassment to him. And while he conveniently blames his hand, it is now Mahalakshmi's turn to recite the infatuation theory with a smirk. Because let's face it, she is no victim in this movie. The director and the cast have all colluded to make the audience the victims.
What else can explain a scene where Mahalakshmi tops her exams, when she seems to be lacking in elementary Mathematics. Or how she could be in love with a man who tries to put her down for topping her class and instead tries to get the family to focus on her 'character' because she received a love letter from a classmate?
While Balu receives no retribution for his misogynistic behaviour, Mahalakshmi is completely infantilised. Even her friends in the film, with whom she discusses her problem, are a bunch of 10-year-old children. And what is truly alarming is the way she continues to insist on loving Balu, despite the abuse she endures.
The director even found it fit to plug in an item song in the film, when the duo go to attend a TEMPLE FESTIVAL with their GRANDFATHER. As far as the rest of the crew is concerned, you can only wonder why talented actors such as Nasser and Jayachitra would even want to be associated with such a film. Even the comedy sequences are grating, and the only joke in the three hour film is on you, for watching it. To put it simply, 100% Kadhal is definitely a topper - on the list of worst films made this year.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.