Vikram's Thandavam Movie Review

PUBLISHED DATE : 28/Sep/2012

Vikram's Thandavam Movie Review

Vikram's Thandavam Movie Review

by Raven


'Thandavam’ is not something we have not seen before. It is the usual ‘hero-takes-revenge’ film but with a difference. A blind hero who uses echolocation skill to detect objects and people takes the revenge. The technical team of Deiva Thirumagal is back together for this film with the same lead stars Vikram and Anushka. The film is a mixed bag of high points and low points, but one factor that stands out is Vikram’s performance.

 

The Plot


The movie starts off with serial blasts rocking London. After a year, Kenny (Vikram) is seen killing people one after another with the help of an unidentified woman. Interestingly, Kenny is blind and uses echolocation skill to detect the environment. Sarah (Amy Jackson) is a beauty contest winner and she develops a soft corner for Kenny. In the flashback, Kenny’s past is revealed. We get to know that his real name is Shiva Kumar and he was once a RAW officer. He was also married to Meenakshi (Anushka) and Sarath (Jagapathi Babu) was his good friend cum colleague. The rest of the story tells us how the protagonist is drawn into problems and whether he will be able to accomplish his mission of taking revenge.

 

Performances


One reason why you should not miss Thandavam is Vikram. He is riveting in his roles, both as a blind man and also as a RAW officer. There are no exaggerated scenes for him and he has performed brilliantly according to the script. Anushka is pretty and has given a good performance even though she appears only in a few scenes.

 

Amy Jackson is disappointing and her role looks unjustified. Her expressions look artificial and she does not add much value to the film. Lakshmi Rai has done a cameo performance and she looks convincing in her role. One might feel Santhanam is a miscast in the film as he does not look very comfortable in the story’s milieu and his dialogues often fall flat. Nassar has done a neat job but his slang looks contrived and Jagapathi Babu is very impressive in his role.

 

Technicalities


Nirav Shah’s cinematography is par excellence. The scenes are rich and locations look picturesque. G.V.Prakash Kumar has produced some melodious songs but including them all has made the film lengthy. Editor Anthony could have done a much better job by trimming the length of the film.

 

Script Analysis


The highs

  • The attempt to bring in a new concept of human echolocation deserves a pat on the back for Director Vijay.
  • The scenes with Vikram and Anushka look poetic and poignant.
  • There is not too much of disturbing violence in the movie, even though it is a revenge saga.

 

The lows

  •  After a while, the story becomes very predictable. A friend turning into foe has been shown in many films already. Director Vijay should have made a more engaging and suspense-filled screenplay.
  • The placement of songs is the biggest let down. One would wonder if Vijay actually had these many songs in his script.
  • Casting isn’t great. Amy Jackson and Santhanam look out of place.
  • There are plenty of logical loopholes in the movie.

 

Bottomline


Vikram is one reason why you might want to watch Thandavam. He has tried his best to cover up the flaws. If the Director had concentrated more on the execution, the movie could have been a more enjoyable outing.

 

Verdict - Worth a Watch for Vikram (2.5/5)

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