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Critics Review
2.75
No Brainer, yet quite an Engaging Political Ride!
Such a refreshing storyworld that had great potential to shine bright. Limitless logical issues overtake the cinematic liberty when the treatment becomes preachy in the second half. The racy screenplay and several gripping stretches save the day.(more)
Source: Ashwin Ram, MovieCrow
3.00
Crafty revenge told with energy
Sunil Kirpalani�s antagonist track carries the right menace without cartooning. You could draw parallels to many real-world figures through him, and you'd likely guess which actual figure he's mimicking most closely here. The production looks polished, and the soundtrack is a plus. What the film lacks in nuance, it makes up for in a steady commercial pulse. Political thrillers have been thin lately. This one lands: Shakthi Thirumagan is sharp, punchy, and driven by a lead who earns your attention. Trim the excess and tame the edit, and the film's playbook would read even better.(more)
Source: Abhinav Subramanian, Times Of India
2.75
Vijay Antony's fantastic political premise lessens in force
A sermon addressing the gallery in a poorly staged scene becomes the tipping point as Shakthi Thirumagan ends with a limper. During the intermission break of the film, I heard a moviegoer compare the effect of the first half to that of some classic Tamil political dramas like Mudhalvan, Gentleman and Indian. If only Arun Prabu had cracked a better resolution for this well-written premise, we might have gotten the Indian that the current generation of Tamil audiences deserves.(more)
Source: BHUVANESH CHANDAR, The Hindu
2.00
An engaging update on the Shankar template of political cinema, let down by a lackluster second half
Shakthi Thirumagan is not a graceful, patient takedown of power politics because it doesn�t want to risk alienating audiences with half informed build ups and suggestive storytelling. There is no conviction in the storytelling to trust the audiences to keep up with the details oriented style of presenting serious issues in the second half. It wants to have its cake and eat it too by being a crowd pleaser and yet be specific in its style. This is definitely a new step for Vijay Anthony as a star that clearly is a indication of his ambitions to tackle more weighty themes and societal issues in his films, a scale above his previous work in mounting and scale. But the film ends up being a more detail oriented update of a Shankar film that doesn�t break any new ground, but is satisfied with the rousing, preachy political sloganeering.(more)
Source: Arjun, Indian Express
2.50
Promising political drama overpowered by preachiness
Shakthi Thirumagan takes all of this, sets the stage, and primes it for a fiery encore, only to douse it all down with a dreary and never-ending barrage of �lessons�. Remember Arun Prabu�s very own Vaazhl, a film filled with life lessons, monologues, conversations, a utopian world, and a revelation about life that comes out of nowhere? Shakthi Thirumagan is a louder, masala-fied version of the film, but the hardest punch in the gut comes when Arun�s distinct voice gets drowned out by a chorus of loud and powerful voices, in this cinema equivalent of a dreamer turning into a pragmatist.(more)
Source: Avinash Ramachandran, CinemaExpress.com