THANGALAAN – Review

Directed by: Pa. Ranjith
Produced by: K. E. Gnanavel Raja,Pa. Ranjith,Jyoti Deshpande
Starring :Vikram,Malavika Mohanan,Daniel Caltagirone,Parvathy Thiruvothu
Cinematography:A. Kishor Kumar
Edited by:Selva R. K.
Music by:G. V. Prakash Kumar
Production
companies:Studio Green,Neelam Productions,Jio Studios
Release date15 August 2024
Language:Tamil

Thangalaan is a Indian Tamil-language action adventure film,directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Studio Green, together with Neelam Productions and Jio Studios. The film stars Vikram in the titular role, alongside Malavika Mohanan, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Daniel Caltagirone, Pasupathy, Hari Krishnan Anbudurai and Sampath Ram. In the film, a fierce tribal leader, during the British Raj era, sets out to stop an apparent sorceress, after earning her wrath when assisting a British general in tracing gold in their village.

The heavy rush at the ticket counters on the first day shows that all the promotional activities that were put in front of the audience before the release have paid off. The Independence Day holiday is also one of the main reasons. Let’s see if PA Ranjith’s eighth directorial venture, Thangalaan, does justice to the expectations.

Starting from the first frame, Thangalaan’s world buildup stands out, the director increases the momentum through flashback portions, then the film moves into the treasure hunt mood and gives equal importance to the fantasy elements. The pre-interval portion adds weight to the mood of the film.Director Pa Ranjith hits the ball out of the park through the banger interval.GV Prakash Kumar’s world-class music and Vikram’s terrific performance and cinematography are the main backbone of Thangalaan.

Although there are so many positives, the language difficulties are confusing the audience. Even the Tamil audience can’t be blamed if they feel the same. The second half,dragged with the first half-end moment and comes close to the climax. Unable to sustain the momentum of the first half, the writer-in-director drags the film till the climax.The character of the British officer breaks down in the second half and reacts without an arc, making the situation even more tragic.
By a sudden turn, the film comes to life with a forcefully injected political statement, but by then it was too late and there were mistakes in conceiving the climax.

Actors like Parvathy, Pashupathy, and Malavika Mohan graced the role they got. Stunner Sam’s action scenes, VFX, and camera angles bring fantasy elements to the horror show.

Bottomline
A technically solid fantasy treasure hunt drama loses the momentum in the 2nd half.