KATHTHI MOVIE REVIEW

Two years after the huge blockbuster success of 'Thuppakki', 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay is back once again with A.R Murugadoss in another 'deadly' titled film. 'Kaththi' has been making all the right and wrong noises, thanks to the hype around the subject, Anirudh's "Selfie Pulla" and also for the alleged involvement of the Sri Lankan government with the producing company, Lyca Productions (and co-produced by Ayngaran International). After a tense and critical stage of protests and political interventions, 'Kaththi' hits the theaters for the festive season. Can this duo strike another bull's-eye ?

'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's dabbling with double role subjects have not gone down well previously, but with 'Kaththi', he is fantastic as both Kathiresan alias Kaththi and Jeevanandam. The former holds the most amount of screen timing and 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay plays to the gallery with his swashbuckling body language and a charismatic screen presence. This character does all the action, comedy, dance and its an out-and-out "mass" 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay show for his die-hard fans ! Whereas, as Jeevanandam 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay brings out the serious performer in him, in a character which is docile, meek, naive yet resilient and apathetic. Its a throwback to his 'Kannukul Nilavu', 'Thulladha Manamum Thullum' & 'Nilaave Vaa' days. Its refreshing to see him in this sort of a role devoid all his regular antics and hope he does more in the future ! Samantha Ruth Prabhu is there only as an eye-candy and she did what can be expected out of her poorly written role, by being cute and pretty and show those emoticon-style expressions. Popular Bollywood artiste, Neil Nitin Mukesh dons the main antagonist and though his demeanor and look was suave and stylish, the character lacks intensity and never really rile us up, as how a terrifying villain should. But kudos to Neil Nitin Mukesh for dubbing in his own voice and getting the lip-sync almost perfect, in an language totally alien to him ! Sathish plays 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's side-kick and provides one or two laughs. Tota Roy Chowdhury, R.Ravi, Rupesh Gupta, writer Veera Santhanam, Sreerag Nambiar, Seetha and others fill up the rest of the cast, with A.R Murugadoss himself appearing in an cameo appearance.

'Kaththi' has a lavish budget and technically the film looks rich and vibrant with various shades of color tones and landscapes. Costume designing by Deepali Noor and S.Rajendran was very apt, and the lead pair looked lovely in the film and songs, with 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay being very casual and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, in some gorgeous outfits. Veteran Sreekar Prasad takes care of the editing department, and his work complements the narrative style adopted by A.R Murugadoss. The action sequences were brilliantly presented and brings out the pumping feel needed for those sequences to stand out. Editing was 'Kaththi' indeed ! The film's lavish budget was well spent on the art department and art director 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja has done a fabulous job. The film has plenty of set works, such as a jail set, godown set, old folks home, an entire dried up village set, and plenty of set properties for real locations such as the Chennai airport sequence, and all of them looked very realistic and fitting for the script. A very neatly designed and executed film ! Action choreographer 'Anl' Arasu's work was brilliant in this film, and it could be one of his best works, till date. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's body language and mannerisms fitted the choreography perfectly and his screen presence upped the ante. The action scene involving the coins, was very unique, cheeky, creative yet powerful and explosive. Don't miss it ! The film attained a great look thanks to George C.William's eye-catching cinematography work. He seems to share a great chemistry and wavelength with A.R Murugadoss and its pretty obvious for us to see, The camera movements, angles and lighting techniques were top-notch works and some of the calculated works, paid off big time when it added more zing and vibrant energy to the scenes.

Teenage sensation Anirudh Ravichander is on fire and his songs were very catchy and peppy, alas the positioning of the songs in the film, was just awful ! "Pakkam Vanthu" was shot on 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay in the swanky new portions of Chennai International Airport and also at its runway. The additional set properties by 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja added more authentic look for the song, which also had plenty of group dancers, adorning airport/flight themed costumes. "Aathi" has fantastic VFX visuals from Prasad EFX and the various color tones used, added more glossy factor to the song. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay and Samantha Ruth Prabhu's costumes matched the song's setting, so does the simple props by 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja and some light-hearted montages were interspersed with the original visuals. The chart-buster, "Selfie Pulla" was shot on the lead pair, in a simple set work, replicating a western city square. The usage of psychedelic colors such as blue, pink and purple shades for the lighting and tone, gives a radiant but stylish look for the song ala Bollywood style. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay dances like a dream and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, tries her best to match him, alongside the group dancers. "Nee Yaar" sung by the legendary K.J Yesudass, is used as a situational bit-song, during the end of the film. "Kaththi Theme - The Sword of Enemy" and "Bad Eyes" theme tracks are used throughout the film, at the appropriate places and the Anirudh Ravichander's background adds more strength to the film's narration and pushes the impact of the sequences by several notches higher. 'Kaththi' is definitely, a feather in the cap for Anirudh Ravichander !

A.R Murugadoss continues the 'Thuppakki' feel and mood with 'Kaththi' as well, but there's plenty of 'Ramana' coating in it. This time, A.R Murugadoss has opted for a more serious social issue and he presents to us the domino/cascading effect of capitalist economy and corporatism in the current Indian scenario. He takes a lashing swipe at the bigwigs of corporate Indian conglomerates and how they capitalize and exploit the pitiable and downtrodden state of an average Indian, especially with the farmers. The film has some fiery, sucker punch dialogues, which was mouthed passionately and aggressively by 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay, especially in the pre-climax sequence. Also, A.R Murugadoss hits at the news-hungry, 'salivating' media people, who only cares about target rating points for their respective channels and more circulation for the print media. Though all these are pertinent issues which should be discussed, the message does get quite preachy as the film progress. Nevertheless, A.R Murugadoss has tried to balance it with some high-octane "masala" elements such as cleverly written scenes and impactful action scenes. But the love track deserves zero-rating, for its ill-conceived scenes and redundant dialogues. But 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's fans might not complain much for their star's exceptional comic timing and expressions. There are some loopholes in the storyline, some logical lapse in the script, and exaggeration of the emotional quotient, but these are ought to be overlooked, if you are to enjoy a great "masala" action film. The staging of some sequences fell flat, which could have been dealt better and the transition of 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's characters should have been smoother and organic, with a proper delineation of both characters he portrayed. But whatever it is, A.R Murugadoss has definitely struck a chord with the audience once again, and 'Kaththi' seems to be another glowing addition to his CV.

'Kaththi' - Sharply 'Kaththi', indeed !


Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

MAAN KARATE MOVIE REVIEW

Man of the moment Sivakarthikeyan, basking in continuous success streak, is back hopping around in 'Maan Karate'. His highest budgeted film thus far, the promotions and marketing has been top-notch, especially when you have an A-list director, A.R Murugadoss in the fray as a fellow producer and the main story writer. Hansika for the glam and Anirudh for the music, can 'Maan Karate' cement Sivakarthikeyan as a saleable actor ?

Sivakarthikeyan has been steadily rising the steps of stardom and 'Maan Karate' happens to be the next level for him. There's a complete changeover for him, especially with his appearance and looks. He has been given the designer costumes, a trendy hairstyle and props to look dashing on screen. His dancing skills has improved exceptionally well, with more grace and style. Performance wise, there's nothing exceptional, though. He has repeated the 'Ethir Neechal' act once again, as the 'underdog' template is there in 'Maan Karate' as well. His comic timing and spontaneity is his trump card, and he does it with ease and elan. A good entertainer, with impressive timing and sense of humor, but can he survive the test of time ? Only time will decide ! Hansika Motwani plays the quintessential Tamizh glam-doll heroine role, of being pretty, glamorous and cute. She does a pretty job with her lip sync, especially when the language is not something she has a grasp of. Vamsi Krishna as the antagonist has a rather tepidly written role and sharing the same scenario is writer Shaji as Sivakarthikeyan's coach. Satish makes us chuckle with one or two of his dialogues and Soori makes a cameo appearance as a hyperbolic boxing referee, and leaves his mark. Sayaji Shinde, Rajesh Gopalan, Vinu Krithik, Preethi Shankar, Ashwathi Ravikumar, Ravi Prabakar, Swaminathan, Arun Roja, Yogi Babu, Vikramathithyan, Tejaswini and etc makes up the rest of the cast.

'Maan Karate' has a superior technical qualities as opposed to Sivakarthikeyan's past flicks. First of all the costume designers, Sathya N.J, Vasugi Bhaskar and Sayaam (Chandigarh) have done an excellent job in giving the hero a good changeover with trendy costumes, and not forgetting Hansika, who looks appealing in the songs. Dhilip Subbarayan takes care of the action choreography and in this film, it is all about boxing. The bulk of the action work takes place in the climax, and it was a decent work from Dhilip. Not too much of an exaggeration but nothing extraordinary, at the same time. But still kudos for him for choreographing apt moves for Sivakarthikeyan. Sreekar Prasad's editing was spot on, especially with the smooth flow of the film and he made sure the film retained both the fantasy and commercial elements, perfectly. Debutante art director, S.Raja Mohan does a pretty eye-catching work, especially with the boxing arena erected for the climax portion. The appealing set gave the film a very glossy and rich look. M.Sukumar, known for his expertise in capturing rustic and jungle atmosphere beautifully with his lenses, impresses us with his cinematography in a typical commercial potboiler such as this, too ! His lighting was brilliant, which gave the film a very glossy and rich color, but the first few minutes showcased his talent once again, with pristine shots of waterfalls and the green forests. 

Anirudh Ravichander handles the music and the young chap is in full form, with this 'Maan Karate' album. Most of the songs are chart-toppers and are sensational hits with the youth. "Royapuram Peter" is the opening introductory song for Sivakarthikeyan and is a pure mass type of song. It was shot in and around the slum-like urban areas and the fish market, to project Sivakarthikeyan as a "mass" hero. "Maanja" had a very colorful look with bright and eye-appealing colored attires for the lead pair and backup dancers, and was shot in and around Pondicherry's attractive neighborhoods. "Un Vizhigalil" was the best shot song, which was also shot in Pondicherry, but in the empty and deserted streets, during the dead night. But M.Sukumar made the location look like a place in the fantasy world, with his brilliant lighting work and the color tone used against the lighting. A visual treat, indeed ! "Darling Dambak" was shot in the picturesque fields of Punjab and featured Hansika in a glam avatar. The visuals were catchy here too, especially with the misty feel. "Open the Tasmac" is the groovy gaana song, sung by the gaana legend, composer Deva himself. The song had a simple yet colorful set by S.Raja Mohan, resembling a street and shops and once again highlighted Sivakarthikeyan's improving dance skills. Do check out the special appearances by Anirudh and A.R Murugadoss in the song ! What's more impressive is Anirudh's background score in the film, which actually elevates the mood of the scene by several notches. His groovy and interesting musical touches adds more zing and peppy elements to the proceedings of the film. 'Maan Karate' is certainly another step higher for Anirudh !

A.R Murugadoss takes the credit for story writing and his former assistant K.Thirukumaran debuts in this flick, while taking in charge of screenplay and direction. To put it bluntly, 'Maan Karate' is nowhere near what was promised through the promotions and exaggerated expectations created before the release. The screenplay is just a plain sailing all out, which in other terms we could say "lazy writing", perhaps ? The first half of the film has no implications whatsoever on the film's theme and is just a hodgepodge of boy-gags and contemporary youth jokes, structured according to Sivakarthikeyan's style. What's less impressive with the making, is the manner in which Sivakarthikeyan has been unnecessarily hyped to be somewhat, a big commercial star. There's nothing wrong in being a star, but Sivakarthikeyan's USP is his boy-next-door charm and the down-to-earth sort of appeal, which made him a fan favorite so quickly. But 'Maan Karate' crushes those elements and make us wonder, "Why, Siva ? Why ?". The love segments are just downright silly and lame and the direction seems to be even more lazy. Only the last 30 minutes, seem to have some sort of seriousness, and now everything seems to be overtly melodramatic and 'life-or-death' sort of scenarios, which reminds us of Sivakarthikeyan's not so long ago release, 'Ethir Neechal' all over again ! R.Senthil Kumar's funny dialogues provide some respite, but gags alone does not make an wholesome entertainer, wholesome ! The boxing match sequences, involving Sivakarthikeyan, are just prime examples of farcical writing ! 

'Maan Karate' - Vijay's super-hit 'Badri' seem like a classic, now !


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS


BY:TAMIL

RAJA RANI MOVIE REVIEW

'Raja Rani' has been making quite some buzz since its inception due to all the big names associated with it. Produced by none other than A.R Murugadoss, who collaborates with Fox Star Studios (the Indian subsidiary of 20th Century Fox) for this rom-com. Directed by a newbie Atlee, who has assisted Shankar in 'Endhiran' and 'Nanban' and also known for his YouTube-hit short-film 'Mugaputhagam', it has the best of casting with good-looking artistes and best of upcoming technicians, behind-the-scenes. Hence, does 'Raja Rani' justify all the hype and buzz it bombarded in the medias ?

First, things first. Let's start off with the lead pair Arya and Nayanthara. Arya oozes charm and wits in his role. He is at total ease with the character he plays, but the actual plus point is his performance and matured handling of the emotional scenes. And the ladies' guy, shares great rapport with both heroines featured in the film. This film would have been a piece of cake for Arya ! Nayanthara made a perfect comeback to Tamizh cinema, after a three-year hiatus. A very composed and heartfelt performance from her. She definitely has the advantage of enacting the best-written role in the film, but still credits to her for pulling it off easily. Definitely, one of her career-best performance, thus far. And its an undeniable fact that she is the actual fulcrum of the movie.

Jai, makes a splendid appearance as the naive, innocent, timid Surya. His antics were good relief in the first-half, and his voice modulation as well as dialogue delivery complements the nature of his character. The latest sweetheart of Tamizh cinema, Nazriya Nazim has one of the 'cutest' heroine introductory scenes in Tamizh cinema ! The girl personifies cuteness and proves her mettle in dishing out typical bubbly-crazy Tamizh cinema heroines, perfectly. Sathyaraj plays the uber-cool urban dad, many teenagers and youths would die to have one for themselves. His stylish make-over looks very refreshing on-screen. Santhanam, has his right balance of emotional scenes as well, and he delivers it finely. But nonetheless, his comic is brilliant as usual, especially in the flashback sequences, featuring him in an odd-wig, with a Rajni-type mannerism. Sathyan was terrific with his comic timing and complemented Jai, very well. Rajendran's suave avatar was a crackling surprise and the other characters such as Manobala, Singamuthu, Dhanyaa Balakrishnan, Wang, Arun Raja, Misha Ghoshal and etc did their parts well.

Atlee has appointed four various costume designers for the film and each of them, Deepali Noor, Chaitanya Rao, Sathya N.J and Kavisa Rebello, should be congratulated for their excellent work in the costume department. All the artistes were looking at their best, be it in any scenes. The heroines were stunningly pretty, especially ! Dhilip Subbarayan's action choreography was simple and neatly executed. T.Muthuraj's production design was of A-grade ! The setting, be it for ordinary or for the songs, everything looked colorful, fresh and sparkling. The posh apartment setting, or even the middle-class home setting was very minutely done, in detailing. A swanky environment is what you get and feel for most of the film's duration. Very good job, T.Muthuraj ! Ruben's editing could have been better, especially with the lengthy climax portions, though his edits are fine for the songs. The real hero of the film is definitely the cinematographer. A sure-hot, next hot-property of Tamizh cinema, George C.Williams captures the sunlight beautifully and his color-palette usage were just terrific ! Brilliant visuals and deft camera-handling. The next big cinematographer has just arrived !

G.V Prakash Kumar's songs were complementary for the setting and mood of the script. "A Love for Life" theme music plays in the opening sequences, which had the church wedding scene. The framing and photographic-shots were just too good ! "Hey Baby" has good montages between Arya and Nayanthara and then transcends into a drunkard-song type, with even Gaana Bala making a sneaking cameo appearance. The second part of the song was shot in dark, dead-night streets of Chennai. "Chillena" was shot on Jai and Nayanthara, and had plenty of sequences, shown in montages. The usage of sun light and color by George C.Williams, in the opening portion of this song was catchy. "Unnale" is a bit-song, also shot on Nayanthara and Jai, with different backdrops of each character, shown interspersing. "Oday Oday" was shot on a lavishly decorated Binny Mills and was picturized on Arya and Nazriya. The colorful sets and costumes, complemented the mood of the song well. "Imaye Imaye" was shot on Arya and Nayanthara, and was used as a situational song, with a couple of montages, edited well. G.V Prakash Kumar handles the background score very well too and definitely 'Raja Rani' would be one of his best works, collectively. 

Now, the theme of life after love is not something unique nor novel. This same theme has been handled by greats such as Mahendran and Mani Ratnam in their films, 'Nenjathai Killathey' and 'Mouna Ragam' respectively. The only difference is that, such a themed film was missing all the while for the current generation of social network-crazed youngsters. Atlee shows maturity in the way he handles his artistes and getting the best from them. But the hallmarks of a good director-in-making, does not stop with that alone. The actual crux, which is the script, has plenty of flaws and weaknesses, in terms of logic and organic, emotional development. The foundations are there, but Atlee fails to establish a strong reason for the lead pair to overcome their past relationships and to accept their new life-partner. If you are to watch this film in hindsight, you could actually realize the amateurish writing and the kiddishness of the theme's presentation. The film has its own good moments and sequences and a couple of well written dialogues, but it just ends there. The flick fails to actually satisfy the rom-com genre its supposed to be and its only a rom-com in partitions. The long-drawn out climax is a turn-off as well, and there are some discrepancies in the character development aspect. As for Arya and Nayanthara, though this film did not do any sort of damage to their respective careers, such films can be avoided, as they have progressed ahead with more challenging and varied roles.

'Raja Rani' - A misguided, supposedly rom-com, with fantastic production outputs. A fairly good rating, only because of the technical outputs artistes' contribution.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

VATHIKUCHI MOVIE REVIEW

'Vathikuchi' is an interesting venture from A.R Murugadoss's production company, which he has co-produced with none other than Fox Star Studios India. With the intentions of churning quality movies, Murugadoss and Fox Studios are collaborating for the second time after the successful, 'Engeyum Eppodhum'. This time too, its a former assistant of Murugadoss, who is calling the shots as director. P.Kinslin's debut directorial venture has Deliban, the younger brother of A.R Murugadoss, being introduced as the hero. So, how did this project fare ?

Like it or not, Dileban is being promoted as an action-hero material by A.R Murugadoss. To some extent, Dileban does deliver the basic outputs expected out of an action hero. He is adept in pulling off action scenes, puts his bulky and well-built physique to rough treatments, and has good stamina. But that alone will not make the audience to root for you. There is the acting performance side to being an actor, and Dileban has way lots of room to improve. He maintains a single expression throughout the film (its not convincing, even if the director wanted Deliban to be projected as the as-cool-as-cucumber type !) The dialogue delivery has no modulations in it and he looks stiff in certain sequences. If he is to survive, he needs more practice in acting ! Anjali's role looked like an extension of her 'Engeyum Eppodhum' Manimegalai, with a little modification, with more naughtiness and chirpiness. Her own dubbing makes it perfect for the role but she has to start taking care of her physique more. Saranya Ponvannan was the archetypal sporty and casual mother, we had seen in many recent movies. Sampath Raj and Jayaprakash have easy roles, as they would have done such roles several times, in their previous films. The rest of the cast such as Ravi Maria, 'Pattimandram' Raja, V.C.R, Rajshree, Bala Singh, Sri Ranjani and etc sufficed the need of the script. But what was the director thinking by having Jegan play a negative role ? It was a terrible miscast as he is nowhere near being convincing enough, and ends up looking comical. Its either perfect his acting skills or just concentrate doing on what Jegan is comfortable at !

The film carries some decent technical work. R.Krishnamoorthy and M.J Raju's sound works were good, especially in fight and shoot-out sequences. Sanjey Karan's artwork was decent enough for the simple script, with appropriate props, as most of the shooting was in live locations. Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B's editing work, keeps the film compact, even with the accomodation of the lacklustre romance and comedy portions. Their handling of the flashback portions and also the fight sequences, was very professionally and maturely done. Rajasekar's action choreography was a big letdown with excessive and terrible rope usage, in the fight sequences. The bad handling of the ropes, makes the action sequences too exaggerated and fake in nature. R.B Gurudhev handles the camera skillfully, with clever usage of the slow-motion techniques for the action sequences and his choice of lighting and color tone, gives the film a raw look, but with a blue tinge.

M.Ghibran's musical score was fantastic, with quirky tunes and background score. "Kuru Kuru" has montages of the hero, going after the heroine, after getting the green-light from her. This song has some well framed, shots. "Amma Wake Me Up" is a groovy and impish song, picturized on the heroine and her bunch of friends, with their shopping 'adventures' and antics. In tandem with the lyrics, the song has been mostly shot in and around shopping malls. "Kanne Kanne" is a dreamy song, where the hero imagines being married to his heroine, and has plenty of montage sequences. "Ari Unnai" is a situational song, showing the hero, getting caught in a dangerous situation. M.Ghibran rocks in the background score with unique sounds, and he is definitely a cut above the rest, among the upcoming young music directors. Expecting more from him, after this and the brilliant debut in 'Vaagai Sooda Vaa' !

P.Kinslin's script is engaging in bits and pieces. The narration was interestingly told in flashback mode but the narration must grow organically and not forced upon. Kinslin shows some talent in handling his script, but his dialogues were not up to the mark, where better writers would have done wonders, especially in the monologues. Also, Kinslin's unnecessarily injects his film, with typical hero machismo, where he is portrayed as the do-gooder and struggles to come to a smooth end. Kinslin's character development was half-baked, especially with the antagonists. The worse was Jagan and his bunch of scheming friends. Which schemers would go on mouthing-dialogues, instead of seizing the opportunity to kill off their targets ? But here, you can see all sort of silly antagonistic antics, especially by Jegan ! But Kinslin should be appreciated for portraying lives of the middle-class characters from a myriad of raw outskirts of Chennai, such as Tambaram, Avadi, Ambattur, Samathuvapuram and etc.

'Vathikuchi' does not live up to the promises it made, but a little more of deft handling and maturity in the script and direction, would have made this film, much better. Keep improving, P.Kinslin !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

THUPPAAKKI MOVIE REVIEW

An eagerly awaited film, especially by the fans of 'Ilaiyathalapathy' Vijay, 'Thuppaakki' ticks all the boxes of a potential box-office hit must-haves. A big hero, a big director, a legendary cinematographer, decent music director, good action, drama, comedy, songs and etc. Every ingredient is there, so did 'Thuppaakki' fire on all cylinders ? Pretty much, yes !!

The film obviously belongs to the hero, Vijay. He oozes confidence and style throughout the film. He carries the film for most period of the screenplay duration. His experience in dancing and fighting skills are very well written and watched, so there's no need of more elaboration on it. Its the actual acting performance which must be scrutinized and Vijay comes out unscathed. There is nothing to complain about his performance. He had a field day throughout this project and it must have been a walk-in-the-park for him. His comfortableness with Hindi and English gives his character more realistic touch and ingenuity  Vidyut Jamwal, plays a perfect foil to Vijay's lead role and he was menacing in his role. Brooding, full of machismo and debonair looks, Vidyut underplayed his character, which elevates the intensity and tension of the battle between the protagonist and him. Kudos to him ! Kajal Aggarwal though has nothing to perform and was there just as an eye-candy during comedy and song sequences. Though Ragini Sri's dubbing matched the tomboyish character which Kajal Aggarwal played, sadly it did not fit for her image and looks awkward. Sathyan makes a commendable presence throughout the film, and he too underplayed his character, which was heartening. Jayaram, was a scream, especially in the coffee-house sequence, and was a pleasant comedy relief. The rest of cast such as Manobala, Zakir Hussain, Anupama Kumar, Deepthi Nambiar were adequate with Meenakshi and Akshara Gowda making cameo appearances. 

A.S Lakshmi Narayanan's sound recording was apt and neat, especially during the encounter sequences. Kamal Shahani and S.Rajendran's costume designing was simple yet stylish for Vijay and also pretty for Kajal. Sunil Babu's art designing was adequate and apt for the movie with minimal touches, especially for the song sequences and props for some sequences involving the antagonist, which made things look natural and realistic. Kecha Khamphakdee of the Jaika Stunt team, has choreographed some stunning action sequences, especially in the warehouse, during the kidnapping sequence though, the climax fight sequence could have been better. Sreekar Prasad's editing was a big boost for the film, because it kept the pace of the film from not slowing down and his fast-cuts for the action sequences were flawless. India's most popular and celebrated cinematographer Santosh Sivan delivers his flawless work as well and this time, his work is more gritty and captures the raw and urbanized mood of Mumbai very well. Die-hard fans of Santosh might be disappointed because of the lack of scenes, which has his trademark establishment-shots. Overall, it was a flawless work indeed from Santosh Sivan. The usage of ARRI camera lends more authenticity to the look and feel of the film and it must have been a proud issue for A.R Murugadoss to have his film as the first to bear Santosh Sivan's name with the honorary ASC-status. 

Harris Jeyaraj's numbers were hummable and listen-worthy, though nothing was excellent or extraordinary. The opening song "Kutti Puli Koottam" was a refreshing one, for a Vijay film. It has some of Santosh Sivan's trademark misty shots, captured in lush, green fields and at a riverbed, with military men having fun, fooling around and dancing with the protagonist. "Antartica" is a peppy song, shot within a stadium and gym complex surrounding, with the hero trying to woo the heroine, who is an active sportsperson. "Alaikka" is a typical dance number which captures Vijay's wonderful dancing skills. The lighting and set properties were grand, yet looked simple and perfect with gold-themed set work. The chart-buster song, "Google Google" was shot in a Bangkok club, with dazzling lighting and funky dance movements with Santosh Sivan and A.R Murugadoss making cameo appearances. "Vennilave" was shot in Geneva around snow-capped mountains and green fields. Interestingly this song was shot by Natraj, the popular Bollywood cinematographer and has his trademark Bollywood-style glossy cinematography. "Poi Varavaa" is the situational finale song, depicting the leaving of military men to their camps after their holidays, which was shot in the railway station, capturing the poignant moments of the military men and their family members. The theme track, "Jagdish on Mission" plays throughout the film, which sizzles during the crucial moments. Harris's background score was better compared to his recent releases and he has tried some unique scores, keeping the Mumbai milieu in mind. 

A.R Murugadoss, did what he can do best - to come up with a racy and taut screenplay, with some interesting action sequences. The highlight of it was the encounter scene of 12 sleeper cell members, which was brilliantly conceived and shot. The cat-and-mouse chase between the protagonist and antagonist, keeps the audiences hooked to the film. The film was packaged very well and works out big time due to the engrossing screenplay which has some sensibilities in it. Though the majority of the script was well conceived and executed, some minor blips are here and there, with plenty of questions going unanswered and the director taking some liberty by infusing typical commercial dramatic elements or sequences into the screenplay, adhering to elevate and propagate the mass image of lead hero Vijay. Additional brownie points to the director for some intelligent dialogues here and there and for not overdoing the commercial formula of Tamizh cinema. After an unfavoured reception for '7am Arivu', A.R Murugadoss has bounced back strongly, with a tautly written script, which is his specialty and reminds us of his previous works such as 'Dheena' and 'Ghajini', which were all good commercial films. 

'Thuppaakki' is a sure-shot winner for the makers and an engrossing entertainer for the audiences. Party time for Vijay and A.R Murugadoss !

Ratings: 3.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL