8 Thottakkal (2017) User Reviews

One of the best Tamil movies of 2017

[aniseprakash · 8/10 · 10 April 2017]

The initial set up of the movie is enough to make a good impression about the movie and 8 Thottakkal has done just that. Initial few minutes into the movie makes us think it's worth the money. The mystery behind the gun, the twists and turns, mind boggling narration keep us hooked throughout the first half.

The second half might feel a bit slow, especially the songs. One might wonder whets the need of this song here. Apart from the song and a few leggy moments the movie sticks to its core subject. Once you watch the complete movie you will have a satisfied movie watching experience.

Though the movie has many characters it's MS.Basker who stands out. So far we have seen him as a comedian (At least in most of the movies), but Sri Ganesh has other idea for him. Ganesh has penned a perfect character to bring out excellent performance from MS.Baskar. His acting, dialogue delivery and expressions are simply superb.

Vetri as the cop has done justification to his role. He has delivered what is needed from his character. Apart from the lead characters each and every character is important in the movie and everyone stays in our hearts with their performance.

Cinematography is the biggest plus to the movie. Every frame is set in keeping the story in mind. He hasn't done anything unseal to annoy us. Music was great in the first half, but it would have been a bit better in the second.

It is Sri Ganesh who steals the show. His direction and characterization are carries the movie throughout. His in depth research about his subjects and perfect picturisation of each character speaks his hard work. Hats off to him.

On the whole 8 Thottakkal is one of the best movies of 2017.

Good Sunday watch

[bsnavin-57394 · 7/10 · 13 January 2022]

Enjoyable watch. MS Baskar acting was great.

Not as much of a cop-thriller, as the movie is quite predictable. Some really dense hard hitting moments, specifically on parenting, and about life in general. Drama quotient is greater than thriller quotient in the movie.

A low budget masterpiece

[aravindhanmsd · 8/10 · 20 July 2020]

The movie with no big stars, no car chasing, no item dance, no promotions but having a great story with an extraordinary screen play. Apart from the movie M.S.Bhaskar just nailed his character. A must watch movie.

Best of Indian cinema which threads on the thin line between art-house and commercial...

[stylegamer · 8/10 · 4 May 2017]

A slow paced edgy social thriller that engrosses the viewed till the end. The structure and narrative of the film is unlike anything we had seen before in Tamil cinema. The film start off with a bleak episode in which a young man is framed for murder

He grows up to be a police officer but soon gets himself into another big trouble when he loses his revolver.His superiors, co are corrupt and care for nothing more than their own advancement. The fact that he is close to a journalist who is at odds with his boss forms more schisms that he could do without. And now, his job (and his peace of mind) is at stake with the loss of his gun. Could he retrieve it in time before blood is spilled and save his job? This forms the reminder of edge of the seat thriller.

In comes a elderly man character with issues, who is retired cop himself and the rest of the film changes track to a story that shows the plight of our elderly in contemporary society . Do we take out elderly for granted? What about the backstories of the people in our society like cops and criminals, which sounds all too familiar to that of the characters in the film? These anticipations will keep your mind occupied as the film rolls along.

First of all kudos to MBbhaskaran who had done an excellent job, probably the finest in his career. We have only seen him in comedy roles and this film has catapulted him into a level that is totally unexpected with his portrayal as the elderly man with issues. The lead hero , a newcomer could have pulled off his role in a more emotional way than one sided timid cop who gets bullied by others.

But most of the film revolves around the performance of M Bhaskaran This is a The film threads the thin line between art-house and commercial cinema in with a certain degree of rawness in the story, acting performances and writing filled with genuine amounts of emotion and filled with realism that is as close to reality but yet pulling the fantasy elements together.

Master pieces

[hariiharannts · 9/10 · 26 November 2020]

I rated it 9 for various reason. The most important reason will be MS baskar acting. Really inspired. He plays through out the film, whatever it may be revenge or sentiment or emotional, he nailed it. I can watch it again just for him. Other than that the story flow through out the movie was awesome. No lag in-between. Less love scenes. Perfectly balanced. Music was thr big backbone of the movie. Overall a perfect crime thriller movie.

The revalation that is M.S.Bhaskar !

[CIDMoosa · 7/10 · 7 June 2018]

8 Thottakal (8 bullets) - One among the many reasons for admiring this accidently stumbled upon flick would be the integrity of director Sri Ganesh in including a whole list of "filmography" titles in the end credits as his inspirations in making the movie - Akira Kurasova's Stray Dog(1949), Breaking Bad series, Badlapur, Wild Tales, Couple of Mysskin movies etc. . As an average viewer who would be so engrossed in this well-paced thriller, you wouldn't be thinking this as a plagiarized piece, but would surely connect the dots once you see this revelation at the end and subsequently the premises of movie inspired from the same.

Sathya, a honest but timid cop with a dark past accidentally loses his service pistol which was loaded with eight bullets. Before he could retrieve the pistol, it makes its way into the black market and gets sold off to a man named Moorthy, who uses it for a bank robbery. While Sathya desperately searches for his pistol, a series of murders start to happen by the same pistol. Rest of the movie is all about the twists, turns and narrations which culminates into a bloody emotional climax, largely unconventional for the supposedly thriller mould of this movie.

The movie would be remembered for M.S.Bhaskar, essentially reminisced for his on and off comedy roles , who gives an enactment of his lifetime as the antagonist/protagonist , the biggest beauty of the film which doesn't try to fit the characters into preconceived shells of virtue or vice. A good Tamil movie to watch after Dhruvangal 16, 8 Tottakal deserves serious appreciation for combining thriller and emotional elements most convincingly, the only bleak points being the under emoting lead actor Vetri and a couple of love songs squeezed in between at the most bizarre junctures.

Beautiful film

[satishraj-55305 · 9/10 · 14 May 2017]

I like to thank producer for doing this film and hats off to the director, I like the movie very much than any other commercial movie done by big stars. I expect the theater owners should see the films like this and promote now the trend has changed we people like to see this kind of movies which has all lively characters this movie is real I LIKE IT .

The events surrounding a lost gun!

[Reno-Rangan · 7/10 · 4 August 2017]

These days I'm comfortable with B movies in Kollywood than its other end. Creative and fresh subjects are the reasons they are succeeding. For the past couple of years I have been watching some awesome B movies and this is one of those. It was not quite great, because of borrowing some of the usual Tamil film formulas. Like the songs which were totally unblendable with the story narration. And then the love story, which is a must in Tamil films, particularly to add romance tracks which again takes us to the point one.

Apart from those small flaws, I liked the film. Those second string and supporting actors had their dream roles. To identify their performance, they never had such focused character in their career. I'm taking about particularly MS Bhaskar. He might have played a negative role, but it is his career best performance. I've seen him in the hundreds of blockbusters, but never like this. Then the new faces, they were not bad. But in some places, it is easy to recognise their inexperience, especially while delivering the lines and expressions. While watching the film, you should stop counting the bullets as I did, because that's not how it goes. It has a different explanation for the title.

The film was about an orphan boy who was wrongly accused of a crime and then after he grew up, he became a police officer. I didn't know, a crime offender can become a police. Anyway, he's so innocent for the job. Meets a girl and while his life was going smoothly, he becomes terrified when he loses the department gun. Following the event, he closely investigates the bank robbery which could be linked to his lost gun. So if that's true, who's behind it and how to come out of the situation comes next.

Very nice storyline, but it should have been 90 minute film. An additional hour was a drag. At least how it looked when the first stage of the development came to cease. In the second half, the focus shifted to the film's negative role. All his history was briefed for our understanding. I thought that parts were intentional and leans towards the sentiments. So when it comes the finale and prior to it, kind of unpredictable, yet compromise in places to knot all the threads together for a perfect conclusion. Nicely done, only keeping in the mind the native audience, but if you are into world cinema, then it is just an okay flick. Still a good film to try once, so I recommend it.

7/10

8 Thottakkal (2017)

[santhosh-10290 · 8/10 · 1 January 2018]

The movie was good. The movie was interesting and thrilling. M.S.Bhaskar acted very well in the movie. Some scenes in the movie was boring. BGM is good in the movie.

Joins the list of BEST movies of Indian cinema

[vickyvj-51310 · 8/10 · 1 May 2017]

When someone ask is there is any flawless films you know ?? i would say no because it impossible every movie will have an flaws.. but sometime very rarely you could see a movie witness a art a pure art which is close to that impossible ...yep recently i experienced it ..IT is 8 Thottakal ..

A boy at his very small age may be at 8 goes prison for a murder which he has not done and he becomes a police officer...But he dose not want to be a police men in his life..This is how the movie starts and move very patiently..

From the very few minutes of the movie you will be alarmed in your mind that you are gonna see some different and honest attempt because of those raw cuts,and the very lively camera work makes the movie so realistic..

This movie so much character driven ,the screenplay is structured in a way that in every scene an character will given an lead to the next scene which is a brilliant thought by the director..

And one more important thing is this is the only movie which has an opening and a well neat ending for each and every character who comes in the movie again an kudos to the writer..

Many feel that second half is a bit slow ,but an story like this definitely need those kind of slow and steady movement of camera ,flawless cutting and even the dialogues were delivered very slowly to transform the tension to the audience all were done very deliberately ...I think that should not be considered a minus of the film..

Finally about the performances ..wow wow wow....M.S.Bhasker u are an alien man stands top..especially in the hotel scenes and Nasser as usual done a very realistic acting ...others were done a decent job ..

On the whole very very important movie to be watched again and again for those detailing...and for us like an general audience it is engaging and really entertaining a lot ...

I would also like to thank the director for mentioning his inspiration in the end credits like (Stary dogs and other )

Thank you

dumbest movie

[venkatgnex · 1/10 · 23 December 2019]

This is the dumbest movie I've seen. They shown police as useless dumb people. Too many failed logics

Excellent act from MS Bhasker

[Makeshwaranath · 10/10 · 21 October 2018]

Completely different story line. Nice screenplay. M.S Baskhar played his role very good. We all know him as comedy actor (Pattabhi) but he gave his best in such a serious role. Director pictured well the real of depressed (kind of) lonely father. Not sure why it was nominated for any award. The only thing which i did not like is the presence of songs in a such story driven movie.

Nice Movie

[dukevishnu · 9/10 · 4 August 2017]

This movie is a filmography of Breaking bad & stray dog and more . Sri Ganesh very well directed the his first movie . An good performance M S bhaskar in ex police officer role . the story tell an depressed police man for his non commuted crime in child days and so that leads to miss of his gun and this cause huge loose in future of this life for next big mistakes.the exact title suits its karma is boomerang you will know at last 15 mints all the possibility of truth behind the mistakes .

Worst movie ever

[vishnurajmr-59378 · 3/10 · 18 April 2020]

I have seen that many of them given good comments here. But for me this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen. Poor story, Pathetic casting (especially the lead male character) and very very boring presentation.