SIGARAM THODU MOVIE REVIEW

After the unexpected disastrous result of 'Anjaan', UTV Motion Pictures has immediately released their next South Indian offering and its Vikram Prabhu's 'Sigaram Thodu'. Directed by Gaurav Narayanan, who previously did 'Thoonga Nagaram', it is a crucial film for all the key stakeholders. A film touted to be based on real-life incidents of ATM robberies and credit/debit card scams, will 'Sigaram Thodu' make it big ?

After the moderate 'Arima Nambi', Vikram Prabhu has nailed another suitable script for him. He has done justice to his role, which has its fair share of boisterous nature together with subtle emotions. His physique lends credence to his role. Also, his dancing skills has improved by some good measure and he is convincing in the action sequences. Nothing memorable but a clean and neat performance from him. Veteran Sathyaraj shows his class and experience in his acting, which suits him well. His role is pivotal since he is the driving force behind the protagonist and the realistic portrayal of his character adds little substance to the film. Debutante Monal Gajjar looks pretty and natural in front of the camera, but there's nothing much else to discuss about her. Gaurav himself plays the main antagonist and the character suits him well and he carried off his role well. Sathish's comedic timing was on the dot as usual and evokes some laughter but the relevance of his character is another question. Others in the cast are 'Erode' Mahesh, Singampuli, Kovai Sarala, Vijay Raj, Charan Deep, Paandu, Krishnamoorthy, Kamalakrishnan, Swaminathan, Manohar and etc, and we also have a cameo appearance from K.S Ravikumar, whom happens to be the mentor of Gaurav.

Costume designing by Niranjani Agathiyan sufficed the needs of the script, and the characters' urban looks were, well achieved. Videsh is in charge of art direction and his work gave the film, a perfect look for the script. The police station, bank premises, office interiors and etc have been well put up and justified the moderate budget provided by the producers. Dhilip Subbarayan and 'Billa' Jagan have taken responsibility for action choreography and kudos to the duo for composing realistic action sequences. The one-to-one fight situations have been done in keeping reality in mind and the choreography is based on proper martial arts moves. Simple, but it was powerful and effective ! Editing by Praveen K.L, especially in the second half keeps the proceedings racy and intact but the first half was just a waste of time, with unwarranted romance & comedy sequences, as well as songs. The investigation portions are the highlights of Praveen K.L's editing work. Cinematograhy by Vijay Ulaganath is a little quirky with plenty of gimmicks in camera angles and movement. Some camera movements were a little unusual but it shows the creative spark of Vijay Ulaganath. Besides that, the beautiful sceneries of the far northern regions of Haridwar, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, Yamunotri, Rudrapur, Gangotri and etc were well captured and is pleasing on the eyes. 

D.Imman delivers some neat compositions but they were not as catchy as some of his previous works. Nevertheless, some might still fancy a number or two in 'Sigaram Thodu's track-list. "Takku Takku" has plenty of simple animation and bright, K-Pop like CG-works, and serves as an introductory song for Vikram Prabhu. The song's visual idea was unique and it might appeal to the kids, which was well edited by Praveen K.L. "Pidikkudhe" is a typical D.Imman melody and is apparently shot on the lead pair. Vijay Ulaganath's top angle shots are the highlights of the song, which has pleasing visuals of the Rishikesh and Uttarakhand's mountainous landscape. The usage of the bird-wing like costume for Monal Gajjar was eye-catching. "Scenenu Scenenu" is a dance number and is again shot on the lead pair, but this time the locations are just the usual urban, upmarket locations such as malls, parks and apartment colonies. "Anbulla Appa" sung by the legendary K.J Yesudas, is focused on the father-son relationship portrayed by Sathyaraj and Vikram Prabhu. The song is full of montages, which is sort of like a sentimental pathos song. D.Imman's background score was a little less impressive this time because there are many moments in which the music director adds too much of melodramatic scores, unnecessary 'elevating' the sentimental quotient of the scenes. Hope D.Imman fixes this issue for his other projects !

Gaurav Narayanan's intention of trying to come up with the "perfect" screenplay of an contemporary Tamizh cinema commercial film, is understandable. But that's what precisely pulls down all the hardwork put in by the director, for his research part of the script. The comedy and romantic portions did not work out well and is a big hindrance to the main plot of the film. Apart from Sathish's one-liners, none of the comedy sequences really gel well with the script and the romantic portions are just too insipid. But still, Gaurav deserves credit for his great effort in compiling details on ATM robberies, and scams involving the financial/banking sector, especially with the debit/credit card services. He also deserves plaudits for structuring those issues in his screenplay in such a manner, wherein a common man can understand the processes involved in such robberies and scams. Gaurav should thank his cinematographer and editor for coming up with visuals and edits, which helped him to convey his research in an convincing manner. The investigation sequences in the final stretch of the film was well conceived and written, as well. Gaurav's character designing was neat as well and never goes overboard with unnecessary "masala" elements. If at all Gaurav took the bold decision of not succumbing to conventional pressures, he could have come up with a much better screenplay.

'Sigaram Thodu' - It doesn't reach the peaks, but it did ascend higher than the usual norm !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL