arvind-pattu Review of Thoongaa Vanam

Thoongaa Vanam (2015)

Thalaivar seems to have forgotten what a gripping thriller is!

[7/10 · 10 November 2015]

As a die hard Kamal fan, I would like to say that I love this movie. But it pains me to say that, from a critical point of view, this movie is just a slightly below the average "thriller". The first half hour of the movie is too slow and has character development for people who have really small roles. Kamal seems to have robbed center stage from all the big actors in the movie. The screenplay is something that one would not expect in a thriller. It is not as gripping as I thought it would be. It is a well-known fact that Kamal Haasan is extremely well rounded in all of the fields. But I feel that he needs to take a break from writing screenplay. Prakash Raj did well as the villain, as usual. but in the end, he was a bit of a comedy piece. Kishore also performed really well. Moving on to Diwakar (Kamal). This character was so easily and nonchalantly portrayed by Kamal, that I bet he could have done it in his sleep. This role is in no way challenging for the veteran. As a result, his expressions are great and he has a booming screen presence. Yugi Sethu's role is thoroughly disappointing. It felt like half boiled rice. His acting seems to been worsened since his absence in Tamil Cinema, and he felt like a mismatch for his role. Ghibran seems to be improving at a very fast rate. The BGM suited the theme of the movie well and made sure that the audience didn't doze off during the slightly boring sections of the film. Thoongavanam would have fared better without the subtle comedy. It felt unnecessary and ruined the momentum of the movie by making the audience burst to laughter. The movie seems to be a bit confused because its trying to be a serious thriller as well as a comedy. You can't always have your cake and eat it. Half-way through the movie, it became way too easy to predict what was going to happen. All in all, this movie is one that you can watch only once. Its just a speck of dust when compared to movies like Vishwaroopam and Dasavatharam. But, for die hard Kamal fans, this is a MUST watch.