Kaaval - Way Off Target!!!

Bharath Vijayakumar

Cop films in Tamil cinema can either be realistic or downright commercial with over dosage of heroism. Where does Kaaval fit into?

Plot:

A righteous cop is given the assignment to put an end to the mafia of contract killers.

Cast:

Vemal's name comes first on screen but it is Samuthirakini who looks to be playing the lead. He seems to carry on from where he left off in a few movies in the recent past. Sermonizing often about how a police officer should be, he comes off as sincere. But it is no denying that it has become a bit monotonous seeing him play this part. Vemal plays second fiddle. While it is appreciable that he is not too keen on projecting himself as a numero uno he also needs to take more care in choosing his films.The rest of the cast is pedestrian and way below the minimal acting standards that you would except.

It would be tough to decipher that the songs were composed by G.V.Prakash Kumar if they did not show his name inthe credits.

Direction:

The film starts off with a voiceover from Gautham Menon. This and the trailer of the film are the ones that actually tell us about contract killing.The film in itself fails to explore this area or show us the modus operandi properly. This might not have been the intention. But the action thriller it aspires to be also falls short. A sense of urgency is artificially induced by the way the characters move about breathlessly. But there is no real tension. There is a little twist involving the kidnap of a Judge's family.This is the sort of scene that wold have invited whistles in a 'Mass hero' vehicle. But here the revelation is hurried and fails to capitalise on providing an orgasmic rush that these scenes are supposed to give.There is an overall sense of amateurishness. Some scenes go on and on for no reason while some end abruptly. The idea of having Vemal as a selfish youngster who hardly feels anything about carrying out illegal activities is good for example. But nothing is extracted out of these nice little ideas. It all plays out in an uninspiring manner. Running at just about 2 hours there are still so many irrelevant scenes. Lesser said about the romantic track the better.

Bottomline:

An action drama that reeks of amateurishness.

Rating: 1.75/5

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