Thodari Review - Prabhu Solomon's "Speed" is gripping, mostly

PUBLISHED DATE : 22/Sep/2016

Thodari Review - Prabhu Solomon's "Speed" is gripping, mostly

Thodari Review – Prabhu Solomon's “Speed” is gripping, mostly

FDFS Review


After directing a number of movies with newcomers, Prabhu Solomon is working with a popular actor for the first time. The movie is touted to be the first train movie that travels from opening to final scene. Director Prabhu Solomon is also known for giving importance to the locations and scene settings, which are often become integral to the movie as seen in Mynaa and Kumki. Thodari keeps up with that trend.

 

Story, Screenplay and Direction


The director is inspired by Hollywood style content (in this case “Speed”) and appreciably localized it with a liberal mix of thrills, comedy and love to suit Tamil audience. There are of course cinematic scenes, petty-minded villainisms, and misplaced comedy/duet songs/dances in the unlikeliest of situations. But, Prabhu Solomon appears to have no pretensions of making a classic movie out of this script. The director has set out to make an out and out commercial movie. 

 

Prabhu Solomon’s script is in a way for unique for Tamil audience due to its settings. The comic dialogue exchanges are good. Prabhu Solomon’s level of detailing backed by train service related research is impressive. The way the director envisions individual scenes and how it blends in the story seamlessly is well scripted. Director tries to be very logical, factual and research oriented in majority of the scenes (physics of jumping between carriages when train is cruising at 120kmph). However, In a few other scenes, director takes cinematic liberties as Dhanush fights single-handedly and overpowers a dozen bad guys on top of a fast-moving train.

 

The random infusions of duet songs and comedy portions often go overboard. Some dance routine during climax, comedy scenes in tense situations right in between gripping moments could have been avoided. Prabhu Solomon uses this opportunity to pick wide range of topics including media sensationalism, political satire, and language tensions during the narration. 

 

Dhanush


Dhanush is at his casual best. Dhanush looks the part of a railway catering person. His confidence is supreme as he underplays his heroism. There are a number of scenes towards the end where you would expect Dhanush to display his heroics. Dhanush doesn't take for granted making long jumps between coaches on top of a fast train. For most parts, Dhanush abides the laws of physics at the cost of his heroism. Dhanush’s comic dialogue and timing with Thambi Ramaiah is exceptional.

 

Casting


Keerthi Suresh is charming in her natural/no make-up looks. Her innocence and naivety provides sufficient scope for entertainment. Prabhu Solomon’s permanent fixture in all his recent movies, Thambi Ramaiah, definitely lightens the mood in the first half. The casting choices look a bit outdated. Chinni Jayanth, RV Udhayakumar, A.Venkatesh, Nasser have small roles and ensures their presence is felt. Karunakaran dialogue delivery is as usual natural alongside Dhanush and Thambi Ramaiah. Ganesh Venkatraman does his usual part, donning a cop uniform.

 

Technical Department


Director envisions every scenes with great level of details and research. Computer Graphics in most scenes are rudimentary. Due to the script, average CG work doesn’t impact the audience engagement. Director also prepares the audience ahead of time by placing a dream song sequences on top of train-top scenes. This helps to make sure audience gets used to unsteady quality of CG work. Imman’s BGM is right on the mark and lends support throughout.  Camerawork and lighting may get often challenging while the filming the movie set in the train. For most parts, it is disciplined and lighting continuity gets a bit erratic.

 

Final Word :


Due to Prabhu Solomon’s habit of forcing a tragedy ending keeps you guessing the fate of Dhanush and Keerthi until the very end. The movie for majority of the ride is thrilling and engaging. A few scenes where the commercial inclusions become overpowering. Otherwise, Thodari is a good family ride. Watchable!

 

Rating: 3/5

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