LKG

K. R. Prabhu's 2019 Tamil film follows Lalgudi Karuppaiah Gandhi, an ordinary member of a small party. He considers himself important enough to lead the state, and a coincidence really does put him in the news. The target is the performance side of politics. Social media campaigns, the manipulation of polls and the debate programmes of news channels are taken in turn; the narrative satirises not a particular party but the method itself. RJ Balaji both stars and worked on the screenplay, and the style of humour he brought from radio and television carries into the film. The tone is light and the dialogue dense. The narrative ends up in a moderate place and avoids sharp criticism. Who it's for: those who like Tamil political comedy. Who it's not for: viewers unfamiliar with Tamil Nadu politics; most of the jokes rest on local context.