Review on Kanithan

Yet another mentee from the camp of the director, who redefined the on-screen commercial format of Tamil Cinema via Thupakki, has forayed into the competitive world of cinema following the footsteps of his mentor. At the same time, he has showcased his identity by taking up a bold concept and delivering it with much authority.

Blend of a composed and an extremely incisive face of Atharvaa make him an ideal choice to spearhead an investigative action thriller like Kanithan from the department of acting. His sports person kind of fitness justifies the stunts that he performs in this movie. This young chap emotes, runs and dances with guns blazing in this flick. He has leveraged the meaty role that has been offered to him. The costumes of Atharvaa are really cool.

Atharvaa clenching his fingers, only in his right hand, into a fist prior to any action sequence lacks spontaneity and appears to be mechanical. For a beefcake like Atharvaa possessing dancing abilities and flexible anatomy, it will be even nicer to watch him perform some stylish and trademark dance movements.

There isn’t much scope for Catherine Tresa in this movie. Even then she scores by rendering cute expressions. She grasps the attention of the audience by her resplendent persona. This baby-faced actress seems to beautify her demeanour with every movie.

Tarun Arora joins the list of Tamil Cinema Villains who possess a terrific screen presence. His act in the second half is analogous to that of a batsman who fires on all cylinders when the job of scoring runs is vested on him in the death overs.

If a role demands an artist to pedal both comical and supporting roles then the right choice in the current day Tamil Cinema is Karunakaran. It is very difficult to get a friend who trusts you a lot and gets involved in a tough job just for the sake of friendship. Karunakaran has portrayed one such character in Kanithan. The manner in which he utters, ‘Sarakku Adikkalaama’ in more than one instance evokes smile in one and sympathy in the other.

K.Bhagyaraj has given an optimal performance to a role that motivates the male lead of the movie in crucial times. Sunder Ramu and Manobala have shared the work with Karunakaran for the comic department and have done a pretty decent job.

Sivamani has saved his best for the energetic number, ‘Yappa Chappa’. Insertion of a melody in between the Charanam 1 and Charanam 2 is poetic and the visuals to complement this portion are innovative. Anirudh and Kalpana Raghavendar deserve a special mention for their renditions in this song. S.Chinna’s background score gets a unanimous thumps up from the audience. In the second half of the movie, S. Chinna’s splendid score for the Villain amplifies the already fierce on-screen intensity of the baddie.

Bhuvan Srinivasan’s editing in the action sequences never let the focus of the audience get off the hook. The colourful coating that the Cinematographer Arvind Krishna has given to the ‘Yappa Chappa’ song delights the viewers. In the first half of the movie, the way in which a guy jumps from the police van has been shot well. The veteran lensman has greatly amused the audience in the fast-paced segments.

In the movies of A.R.Murugadoss such as Thupakki and Kaththi, the characterizations of the protagonists and the antagonists would have been etched well. At the same time, the characterizations will be interesting.  A cat and mouse game prevails between the two, right from the moment the hero breaches the concealed territory of the villain and the movies end up with a convincing victory to the protagonists. In between this roller-coaster ride, a romcom sequence would have been placed to provide the much needed relaxation to the audience. A similar template has been utilised by T.N.Santosh in Kanithan. In spite of sticking to a successful template, he has infused a different social concern to it i.e. fake certificate preparing racket. He depicts a story where he injects the substance, Journalism and neutralizes the racket in the climax of the movie.

The concept of love proposal and the subsequent acceptance of the same via a handshake look interesting. In the first half of the movie, the sequence of scenes where innocent people are being trapped and the subsequent happenings in the life of one of the deceived person is heart-wrenching. A nail-biting segment in the second half of the movie involving Ashvin Raja, Atharvaa, Tarun Arora, Tarun Arora’s men, Sunder Ramu and Catherine Tresa is packed well. Placement of songs is a big concern in the movie. ‘Yappa Chappa’ song evades the annoyance of the audience due to its exhilarating tune, lyrics, renditions, making and screen presence of the leads.

Along the lines of the ideas of A.R.Murugadoss in movies such as Thupakki and Kaththi, T.N.Santosh has dedicated his debut venture to the media persons who are devoted to their job. Confluence of some of the promising talents of Tamil Cinema, with an intention to entertain and convey the happenings behind a social concern to the audience, has really paid off.