After a decently churned out hit in the form of 'Deivathirumagal' last summer, the combo of director A.L.Vijay and 'Chiyaan' Vikram have teamed together once again to pin all their hopes on 'Thaandavam', an action thriller that has an ensemble cast and tried to recreate the magic. As the saying goes 'Everyday is not a Sunday', which is so true at least in the case of 'Thaandavam'. Let's see why.
The movie opens in London where a series of explosions rattle the city. A blind man Kenny (Vikram) is an orphan who plays piano in a church. During nights he turns into a killer and kills specific people upon getting information from a lady. Obviously the blind man has a past wherein he is personally affected and has lost his beloved one and so he seeks revenge against international terrorists who were behind the blasts.
Though the story had been tried and tested for the last 2 decades right from the 'Bhaasha' days, one would at least expect the treatment to be refreshing and that is where the director has faltered big time. As with many of AL Vijay's previous ventures, this movie too had some heavily 'inspired' scenes from some Hollywood movies that looked absolutely staged. This goes to show the lack of creativity and hence the audience do not feel any impact at some critical junctures.
Apart from that the first half moved at a snail's pace making us feel restless while the second half lacked any logic and we feel helpless. The only silver lining was that part of the flash back that showed Vikram getting married to Anushka and the adjoining scenes which was a bit refreshing. Apart from that even the twists and turns in the story could be easily guessed and there were so many movies in the past that had these clichés with various colors. Also a blind man fighting a bunch of guys single handedly using echolocation technique was a bit far fetched.
Coming to the performances:
Vikram - I can only feel pity for him. Such a talented actor should realize that playing roles that suit his age from now on is the only way moving forward or he should take care of the wrinkles that pop out from his cheeks in order to look convincing as a romantic hero. Though he looked ravishing with his carefully nurtured brawn, his age showed off many a times.
Anushka was convincing and sophisticated but looked a bit aged at times which might be intentional in order to get her chemistry with Vikram.
Amy Jackson was in most part of the first half but she had such a weak role that after sometime we tend to forget that she was in the movie. Her acting was horrible, lip sync and expressions were totally asynchronous with one another.
Lakshmi Rai had an extended cameo and did her bit without anything special.
Nasser, as a Srilankan Tamil police officer in London need not have been roped in for such a plain role.
However he gave his best shot.
Santhaanam - I guess the producers have started believing that without him there would be no luck at the box office; to be honest, even with him joining the fray, there is no luck as he had very little screen presence and has completely dried out of good humor. He badly needs a rejuvenation course as his energy levels have come down drastically.
Jagapathi Babu from Tollywood was sort of refreshing from the run-of-the-mill high pitched antagonists and looked suave.
Music by GV Prakash was nothing special and the songs did not make a lasting impression.
Editing by Anthony lacked fizz and made the scenes look long and boring.
Cinematography by Nirav Shah was pleasing for the eyes and the London streets and Sokkanathapuram greeneries and traditional houses were captured with grace and beauty.
For Vikram, this is another disappointment on the trot. I am still hoping for him to blow away the cobwebs and choose scripts wisely in order to gain his form back.
Verdict: Watch it on TV for Diwali!
Rating: 2/5
.jpg)