Debutant Karthik Thangavel’s Adanga Maru is a simple line that sees good versus bad in the form that we are very used to now. However, an undeniable fact is that it is such a treat to watch Jayam Ravi in the cop avatar. No matter the number of times he has played an officer from the department, he never ceases to impress one and all! Subash, an honest sub inspector has the usual problems and pressures that any honest cop would have. How he solves a case and what happens to his family in the process and how he overcomes this forms the crux of the story.

The biggest bonus when you have Jayam Ravi in your script is that you can make the family sentiment work to perfection. Yet again, Jayam Ravi stands out as the caring son to both his parents and to his extended family and these family related scenes are very important as they form the base for the emotional connect. Kids as always would love this character that he has played and it is safe to say that he has shouldered the entire film pretty well. After Thani Oruvan, it is refreshing to watch him in his comfort zone and in a fairly convincing script.

On the other side there is Raashi Khanna, who is not a typical heroine in this film. She gets limited scenes and minimal songs but scores with a decent performance. There is Sampath, a bunch of rich kids as villains and Munishkanth for the much needed comic relief. Most of the cast is good except for the fact that the rich kids could have delivered a more natural performance as the story revolves around the crimes they conduct.

Director Karthik Thangavel has stuck to a simple yet effective storyline and made sure that the film stays true to the genre he has picked. The biggest positive of the film is the ‘no-nonsense’ factor and the play with respect to the gripping screenplay in the latter half. Some mention worthy scenes include the gas assassination sequence, climax and the superbly carried out interrogation scene that also extends into a sequence in the airport. This portion is easily the best part of the film and is interesting to watch Jayam Ravi held captive by Sampath and the villains yet managing to carry out his revenge related tasks.

Whilst the first half has most of the establishment scenes with respect to family emotions and the much needed introduction of the core characters and what the film is going to deal with, the second half is a quite predictable yet engaging. Now this is definitely commendable and the complete credit goes to the direction team for executing exactly what was planned on paper. The second half has a lot of convincing mass moments for Subash the cop and also has a very interesting play towards the last 45 minutes. Even though we know the course of events, we are able to enjoy most of the scenes thanks to the high points and right packaging of suspense elements by the director. The way he has revealed the suspense forms the key and this has worked for Adanga Maru.

However, what becomes a problem in the latter half is the overuse of technology to solve or carry out most of the events. Loads of gadgets, games, trackers, cameras and voice recordings could have been avoided as it gives us a monotonous feel at some points. This also does not test the intelligence of the audiences which is an important criteria for a film to stand out for years to come.

Nonetheless, these small negatives do not really matter at the end of the day as the director keeps us hooked in most scenes. By avoiding unwanted songs and build up mass scenes, he has done a world of good to Adanga Maru. There is a vast amount of genuinity with the nature of this script and the execution is almost on dart. The predictability factor also does not seem a big problem thanks to the culmination of good work from various departments such as acting (Jayam Ravi), cinematography (Sathyan Sooryan), edit (Anthony L Ruben) and the director Karthik. Adanga Maru is a good suspense thriller that is worthy a watch!

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