THANI ORUVAN (2015)

THANI ORUVAN  (2015)

Director: Mohan Raja

Casts: ‘Jayam’ Ravi, Nayanthara, Arvind Swamy
Music: Hip Hop Thamizha
Language: Tamil
Genre: Action Thriller

There was a time when the ‘Jayam’ brothers’ ruled the industry with consecutive hits. After a four years hiatus, director Raja is back to pair with his brother for a sleek action thriller. With another powerhouse actor, Arvind Awamy joining the team, the promos looked nothing short of a racy action affair. Will they deliver another blockbuster?

Synopsis

Mithran (Jayam Ravi) and his group of friends who are training to be IPS officers embark upon a secret night journey to nib the crimes happening in the city. However, it’s revealed that the hard work is all going to waste as these criminals are being bailed by the big heads of the government. Mithran does not seem to be shaken at all as he has different plans. With intensive research from young, he has created a map of small crimes leading to big conspiracy and aims to kill that one proprietor of such big conspiracies after he his posting. He finally zeroes down to Siddarth Abimanyu (Arvind Swamy) a ‘Padmasree’ winning scientist. What happens next forms the crux of the story.

Story – Screenplay

Mohan Raja’s decision to churn out an original script for the first time has paid off big time. The real heroes are although writer duo Subha who has given an intelligent screenplay with nail-biting mind game moments. If you think that the dialogues in the trailer are terrific, the film has many more.

It’s evident from the first frame what director Raja wanted to tell the audience, the significance of the mastermind behind conspiracies. “உன் எதிரி யார் என்று சொல், நீ யார் என்று சொல்கிறேன்”, a rewritten old Tamil saying surfaces throughout the screenplay. The tougher the opponent is, the more one’s capacity will be revealed. The way the mind games are written are thoroughly engaging. All the characters are well balanced and the motivations of each of them are well etched out. The best thing about the screenplay is that it’s very focused. In that way by the time the end credits roll, you don’t even know 2 hours and 40 minutes have passed. It’s that excellently paced! The feeling to stand for injustice is genuinely injected and felt by the audience by that time.

On the flipside, ‘Kannala’ song even though excellently shot and composed, is the only bump in the screenplay that looks forced in an important situation.

With that, ‘Thani Oruvan’ is undoubtedly one of the most engaging thrillers in recent time.

Casting & Performance

‘Jaya’ Ravi delivers his best performance after ‘Peranmai’. Be it his dialogue delivery, tough physique or the action set pieces, M.Raja brings the best out of him. In a ‘one man fighting for the nation’ story like this, there will always be a tendency to over emote, but Ravi excellently underplays.

Nayanthara scores in certain moments especially in the second half despite donning a limited role. The gang of IPS officers who help ‘Jayam’ Ravi also excels in all departments of action and emotion. National Award winning actor Thambi Ramiah as the villain’s father is a scream!

Last but definitely not the least is our powerhouse villain, Arvind Swamy. Director Raja once said in an interview that the villain in real world are not usually the typecast evil looking people but often the attractive ones. This film is definitely Arvind Swamy’s official comeback. He underplays most of the time and keeps his expressions controlled. Yet, he manages to grip the audience and immerse them into the character. The scene with him and Nassar at pre-climax will definitely make us wonder what kept this talented actor away so long. For more films ahead Arvind Swamy!

Technicality

Technically ‘Thani Oruvan’ is Raja’s best film.

Ramji’s camerawork is sleek and steady. With many cinematographers opting to go handheld for stunts, Ramji shoots them in a classical steady shot that in fact highlights the excellently choreographed stunt by Stunt Silva clearly.  His visuals in ‘Kannala’ are simply arresting.

Gopi Krishna’s crisp cuts further add value to the existing racy screenplay. There are no dull moments or lag in the film at all. However, some scenes look abruptly cut and that is evident in the sudden cut of BGM as well.

Hip Hop Tamizha’s music is apt for the film. There are not many separate songs in the film as mostly are use for BGM, narrative purposes. The young composer scores well in his BGM but the only problem is that there is not even a second that are left silent. Power of silence at certain scenes might have elevated the emotions further.

Bottomline

With focused screenplay and excellent pacing, ‘Thani Oruvan’ is a well-made intelligent thriller that easily qualifies as the ‘Jayam’ brothers’ best work till date.

Verdict:

Movie Rating:  4/5