ETHARKKUM THUNINDHAVAN (2022)

Critic No. 272

Director: Pandiraj

Written by: Pandiraj

Produced by: Sun Pictures

Casts:  Suriya, Priyanka Arul Mohan, Sathyaraj, Saranya Ponvannan, Vinay Rai, Soori, Pugazh, Ilavarasu, Devadarshini

Music: D. Imman

Language: Tamil

Genre: Action / Drama / Thriller

SYNOPSIS: 

Kannabiran (Suriya), a lawyer hailing from a village that respects and protects women. The tranquility of the place collapses when an affluent, influential gang tries to tarnish the reputation of their women and crumple their harmonious life. How Kannabiran deals with the gang and safeguards his women and their dignity forms the crux of the film.

REVIEW:

Pandiraj is one director who always finds his groove in churning out mass entertainers that have their knees deep in familial emotions and societal values. In Etharkkum Thunindhavan the director follows his blockbuster formula that worked wonders in his recent flicks, Kadaikutty Singam (2018) and Namma Veetu Pillai (2019). For Suriya, after churning out realistic, critically acclaimed films, Soorarai Potru (2020) and Jai Bhim (2021), this film will launch Singam star back to the commercial arena. 

The film starts off with Kannabiran killing 5 people in an industrial area and is arrested by the police. The story moves to main plot a few months ago with Kannabiran, a socially responsible criminal lawyer, who comes across the deaths of young women deemed to have been killed by accidents and suicides. His intuition and investigation reveal that they had been ruthlessly murdered by a gang led by Inba, the central minister’s son. How Kannabiran protects the rest of the women who are trapped in his web of blackmail and cracks the case forms the crux of the film.

As much as the premise sounds like a thrilling action flick on paper, the film has many subplots with various genre conventions of comedy, romance and family drama mixed with a typical ‘masala’ balance. That is the film’s weakness and strength at the same time. The film’s main plot revolves around Thennaadu, a region that cherishes women. Inba belongs to the neighbouring village Vadanaadu, whose men marry the girls of Thennaadu. But there is some conflict between the two villages ever since the suicide of a Thennaadu woman who had been married off to a Vadanaadu guy. Pandiraj utilises this conflict smartly to work out both the suspense and humour portions into the romance between Kannabiran and Aadhini. The film has good situational comedy scenes based on the conflict and it works really well, thanks to the great show displayed by veterans like Devadarshini and Ilavarasu who play as the female lead’s parents. 

One of the biggest strengths of Etharkkum Thunindhavan is also the way it constantly puts the women characters in the center stage and touches on a very relevant social problem of cyber crimes revolving around video scandals. Even during important conversational scenes, Pandiraj holds the frame of Priyanka even when Suriya is speaking, which is huge in a hero glorifying ‘masala’ film world. He constantly thrashes conventions like this and delivers a very strong message through a neat story. Suriya carries the film on his shoulder through his performance and it is really nice to see him loosened up after a series of serious roles. 

I really felt like giving an ovation in the cinemas when a important character in the film sends a video reply to the villain who threatens her with a hidden bathing video that she is indeed going to reveal his identity when the video comes out. That was a true ‘mass’ moment. Pandiraj does a splendid job of keeping you interested enough to guess what will happen next. And he delivers on the surprises. The preachiness of the message could have been toned down especially in the overlong climax scene. 

The problem comes in when various subplots try to merge together to give a coherent narrative. Be it the crime track led by Inba, the love track between Kannabiran and Aadhini or the former’s family’s baggage revealed through a (super generic, cliche) flashback, they look like they belong to premises of 3 different films. There is one portion where the film switches from a comedy scene to the main serious plot with Kannabiran literally changing from a smile to a frown with a voice over saying something like, “Veliya sirichitu irunthalum, ula pathadama irunthen (Even though I was laughing, I was really concerned about it)”. The audience also literally had to switch back and forth from the distractions (though the comedy portions worked at parts) to the main crime plot. 

Vinay is a total misfit in a very thinly written villain role who literally doesn’t increase any stakes in the story other than playing a piano and threatening people that he will release the videos. At one point of time we disengage from his threat that becomes a major stake problem in the narrative. Other roles such as Saranya and Sathyaraj are wasted in stock characters while Priyanka shines with a well written role. D.Imman’s successful form with Pandiraj comes to an end with a disappointing score and songs that don't gel with the main plot at all. In an era where even in commercial flicks the stunts are designed to have a realistic look, in Etharkkum Thunindhavan the fights look weirdly exaggerated with due respect to the efforts of the team to pull off some large scale sequences. 

That said, Suriya should be commended for constantly choosing films that are socially responsible and for Pandiraj, though not his best, he continues his decent form with yet another successful crowd puller.

VERDICT:

‘Etharkkum Thunindhavan’ is a template driven commercial flick that tries to weave in some relevant messages about cyber crimes targeted on women that is part preachy, part educational.  

CELLULOID METER- 3.25/5: