THAGARAARU MOVIE REVIEW

In Thagaraaru, Director Ganesh Vinaayac picks Madurai as his backdrop to tell the tale of four petty thieves who find themselves in the midst of the city’s history of violence and aggression.

The band of brothers, Arulnidhi, Murugadoss, Pavanji and Sulile Kumar, led by professional practices and a series of events find themselves warring with one of the most notorious men in Madurai. As it turns out, there are others vying to take out this gang of thieves as well. Somewhere between all this, the director cooks up a love-at-first-touch romance between Arulnidhi and Poorna along with some limp comedy to make up the first half. The interval block does build up well and promises more.

As far as performances go, within the thieving gang, Arulnidhi comes across as the baby-faced dare devil criminal and one feels that he could have put his imposing height and frame to better use. He’s tried to come out of his quiet-persona mould. Dancing too is an area that he needs to look into. The other guys in the gang, played by Murugadoss, Sulile Kumar and Pavanji, are all well cast as they look and play their parts aptly. Poorna finds herself in a role that could potentially have a lot of people talking about her, but it feels that the presentation of her character demanded a little more attention from the director.

The intent that Ganesh Vinayaac shows during Nanba Nanba song to drive home the bonding and friendship is commendable and the same amount of intent ought to have been given to nurture the romantic angle which then would have played a huge part in creating the impetus in the climax. Also, instead of making the second half a gripping narrative that unearths several clues, it plays out as a long drawn out melodramatic affair filled with kicking and screaming in the rain making the 2 hr and 15 min film feel a tad longer than it should.

Dhill Rajg’s cinematography makes an impact with his close-ups and low angle shots while T.S.Suresh pulls off the task of editing a long and tense climax. Dharan’s songs are lively while Praveen Sathya’s re-recording in the second half is noteworthy. In a film where there’s plenty of sickle waving, the stunt master, Dhillip Subbarayan gives the action blocks some cinematic moments and also marginally excess violence, leading to the film’s U/A certification.

Those who bask in Madurai fanaticism will have some takeaway from Thagaraaru, the rest will be left without caring for the characters or their motives.