Tag Archives: Sampath Raj

Action, Crime, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Thriller, Worth a Watch

Thoongaa Vanam Review

6 Comments

Thoongaa Vanam Review – Thoongaa Vanam is a Tamil action crime thriller released in 2015. This is an official remake of French movie Nuit Blanche. CK Diwakar an officer in Narcotics Control Bureau along with his colleague steal drugs from a smuggling gang to make some quick money. The boss of the smuggling gang kidnaps Diwakar’s son and demands him to return the stolen drug.

Kamal Hassan demands a greater deal of maturity from the viewers for he had taken a script and stuck to the core theme of the script. He hasn’t taken any time to explain what NCB is. Hasn’t wasted time in introduction scene, songs and comedy track. The movie gets on track right from the first frame which opens on a hazy windshield with the evergreen Chandrababu song “சிரிப்பு வருது சிரிப்பு வருது…” playing in the radio. Even the character background of Kamal is revealed only later in dialogues during his first interaction with Prakash Raj. Kudos to Kamal, Director Rajesh M Selva and team for taking a script and staying in the perimeter of its true essence.

The next biggest strength of the movie is its cast. Prakash Raj, Trisha, Sampath Raj, Yugi Sedhu and Kishore all of them fit their roles very well. Kamal has performed his role at ease. The chemistry between him and his son reminds us of Uttama Villain. The trademark Kamal’s humor sprinkled in the dialogues in many places of the movie.

High Points: A different attempt in Tamil Cinema breaking some of the commercial formula, casting, action sequences.

Low Points: The original script itself has been witnessed in many crime thrillers and it lacks pace in the first half.

Overall Thoongavanam is a much-needed break for Tamil Cinema. It doesn’t aspire to be a milestone in Indian Cinema but a sincere attempt to give a good cinema to the audience.

Worth a Watch

 

Drama, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Thriller, Wait for DVD/TV

Burma

Burma – is a Tamil thriller released in 2014. Paramanandam alias Burma is a skilled car thief. He works for a financier to seize cars whose due amounts are not settled. While doing one of the car seizing he crosses line with a criminal gang and he has to save the car, his girlfriend and himself.

The movie has a very interesting plot of car theft which is not usually handled as a central plot for a movie. Director Dharanidharan should be lauded for the effort put in here. Believing in a script and making it into a movie is not an easy effort for a new comer. But due to sufficient lack of scale for the project the production quality of the movie suffers to a great extent. Atul Kulkarni and Sampath Raj’s role is not as it is depicted in the trailer, in the movie they have very minimal role to play. The background score is very disconnected which makes the movie disengaging in many places. Overall the movie definitely has some substance in it. If you are willing to see this as a first timer’s effort you would enjoy this movie for the interesting plot it has.

Wait for DVD/TV

Action, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Worth a Watch

Aaranya Kaandam

1 Comment

Aaranya Kaandam – is a Tamil neo noir released in 2011. The plot has different angles which come together at the end of the movie. A local don is in his old age is trying to cope up with the end of his golden era. One of his men is trying to take things on his own by getting the drug deal which their rivalry group is dealing with against the will of the don. The don is trying to divert his rival group onto this guy. A young girl in the captive of the don wants to flee from his captivity along with a worker in don’s house. A poor drunkard man and his young son chance upon the drugs for which the rivalry groups are fighting for. How all this come together is the plot of Aaranya Kaandam.

Director Thiagarajan Kumararaja has dealt with a very complex subject and a genre less used in Tamil movies in his first film. He has done well for a first timer. The movie acquired a cult status much later since it had been released. The casting of the movie has been done well. Jackie Shroff is a perfect choice for the role. Sampath Raj has equally done his role well. As the movie progresses the plot thickens, keeping you engaged with the narration and the ending unties all the knots leaving you convinced. The name is apt for the movie which means Jungle Chapter and the movie revolves around the gang wars in the city. If you are a fan of black action films then you would like Aaranya Kaandam. The movie is not suitable for kids.

Watchable – for fans of black films