Thupparivaalan (Tamil, 2017)

The character of the protagonist Kaniyan Poongundran is that of a morally valuable detective who would do anything to challenge his mind as long the outcome serves a useful purpose. Mysskin builds that up beautifully with him turning down a case with a hefty paycheck and taking a measly one involving a dead dog after patiently hearing it out. His efforts to better the life of an enslaved pick-pocket are also written well to establish his character.

Mysskin’s phenomenal find Aarol Corelli who sent us into a trance with his music in Pisaasu is back to dish out more such soulful scores. This time around he manages to hold the air of suspense while the flurry of detective activity unfolds on the screen – undoubtedly a vital cog in the scheme of things to keep the audience engrossed.

Mysskin’s movies usually sport haunting visuals and here again he has the cinematographer weaving magic with excellent framing of multiple subjects. The easy paced motorcycle chase looked very good and shot in apt lighting too. The finale spanning the vast expanse of the Pichavaram Lake, especially the pier where the last moments wind down is captured brilliantly with a nice mix of aerial shots.

Vishal impresses in most of the stunt sequences featured in the movie. His physique naturally supports the intentions and the finale stunt takes the top honors as he hops around perfecting the moves with his legs tied. Vishal’s impulsive actions and retorts during the investigations also provide much required comic relief to the otherwise serious proceedings.

Prasanna turns in probably the most impressive performance among the entire lot. Though the detective expectedly out thinks him in every turn, he carried off the sidekick’s character virtually effortlessly and void of any unwarranted reactions.

The screenplay features too many moving parts with no real importance to the outcome of the narrative. The antagonists’ gang seemed to have featured in one scene too many as they ate up precious screen time rather can contributing to the story. An angry Vinay beating up eggs before wasting them, the insipid crawl from Bhagyaraj to name a few.

The climax reveal featuring Vinay was so hurriedly executed that it was a just a blink and miss moment! This came as a rude shock after inexplicable scenes of Vishal pulled off a mixed martial arts fight in a Chinese restaurant and recreated the scene of murder surrounded by applauding cops – the director was simply not keen enough to pit the antagonist on equal terms with the protagonist, something that catapulted films like Thani Oruvan and Vikram Vedha to glory.

Vinay’s lead antagonist character aka ‘Devil’ had a very unimpressive sketch and mouthed dialogues that had no real bite. Though his demeanor was intimidating, there was no real background on why he was the ‘Devil’ when all he was doing was mopping up the loose ends and apologizing for his acts, barring the one time when he went maniacal with a buzz saw!

Vishal ended up being a caricature for most part of his performance in his quest to be that detective genius whose mind was ahead of a normal person. His diction definitely did not suit the character and felt nothing more than a misfit for the super intellectual character that was intended to be portrayed.