Tik Tik Tik Review - Part sci-fi, part masala

Bharath Vijayakumar

There is a definite pattern to Shakti Soundar Rajan's films in that the central conceit of his films are derived from the West. Naanayam (a bank heist), Naaigal Jaakirathai (a thriller with a canine in the mix) and Miruthan (a zombie flick). With Tik Tik Tik he decides to soar a lot higher and quite literally at that.

The trailer did give away most of the plot and the film does toe that line without much surprises. It is a race against time battle and as in most of these films worldwide it is the hero who needs to save our planet or in this case a major portion of Tamil Nadu. You got to credit the director for his steadfast conviction to keep exploring genres that are a far cry from the average Tamil movie and he keeps doing his bit to Indianise the template. Now this is where it becomes a little dicey. The need to Indianise is obvious, given the market in mind but how well is the mix is what makes all the difference. You could add some Indian spices to a Pizza but then serving it with sambhar could defeat the purpose. Tik Tik Tik is not close to either extremes and does end up midway.

The first half sails through pretty easily with its light hearted treatment. The laughs may not be big but the antics of the hero and his buddies ensure persistent smiles.The father-son emotional bond is what that never creates the emotional connect that it should have. It plays out like a colourful greeting card but the lines inside lack soul. But the bigger problem is in the second half when for a brief period the film plays out like a poorly written masala movie in space. A foreign villain is made a clown and keeps mouthing empty lines like 'I will not leave you' but does nothing worthwhile. He is referred to as a flat nose, an attempted joke that is obviously racist. But the good thing is that the movie never goes to a point beyond redemption. 

The CG is pretty decent. But some of the actors needed to show more emotion. There is a scene where Jayam Ravi's life and the mission to save so many lives is hanging in the balance and the supporting actors react in a way they would probably react while watching the weather bulletin on a perfectly normal day. More silly is the twist regarding the villain and the way in which this portion plays out.

Bottom line

Shakti Soundar Rajan keeps up his repertoire of delivering decent films on outlandish themes. But for someone who is confident enough to eschew a love angle in the film, one does hope he goes full throttle in one of his future films. 

Verdict: 2.75/5