Thangalaan review: Vikram, GV Prakash help Thangalaan glitter

Cast: Vikram, Pasupathy, Daniel Caltagirone, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Malavika Mohanan, Harikrishnan, Muthukumar and Ananda Sami

Director- Pa Ranjith

Music director- GV Prakash Kumar

Rating- 3/5

Pa Ranjith’s films have commonly been the voice against oppression, inequality and injustice in society. With Thangalaan, the visionary filmmaker has travelled back to pre-independent India with Vikram as the face to deliver his strong message. How convinced has the duo been in doing so? Will Thangalaan manage to break the jinx Tamil cinema has been going through lately?

The movie opens in the year 1850 in British-ruled India. Local kings are seen in discussions with British authorities as the latter has its eye set on gold in a mountain in the Madras Presidency. Indian kings bail out from the deal as they are wary of the spirits and myths surrounding the mountain. Meanwhile, the story moves to Vepoor, a village in North Arcot where the local tribe is seen leading a happy life by harvesting their agricultural lands. Thangalaan (Vikram) lives with his wife Gangamma (Parvathy Thiruvothu) and their kids. The villagers’ happiness is shortlived as their lands are taken by the landlord and are asked for a huge sum as taxes in return.

Meanwhile, Lord Clement (Daniel Caltagirone) travels to the village to seek the tribe’s help to dig for gold in the mountain. While many refuse to go with him, Thangalaan and a few others agree to go with him in return for handsome rewards. Pa Ranjith sets up the premise and the characters beautifully in a quick period with a solid performance from Vikram and Co. The plot gets interesting as the team is in pursuit of gold with quite a few twists, turns and fantasy. The story travels back in time and we are introduced to Aarathy (Malavika Mohanan), who stops the gang from digging gold from the mountain. Here, Thangalaan slants from being a period film to a fantasy flick without any hindrances in the narration. Towards the interval, Thangalaan fights several obstacles and helps his team stay on course. The movie too remains the same way despite its chaos and violent fight sequences.

The second half begins on a high note and Thangalaan goes back to his village to get more of his tribesmen to join him in the gold hunt so that they all can earn enough and more to get their lands back from the landlord. The pursuit continues but the story remains the same – the one-liner persists and we are almost 100 minutes into the 156-minute film. Thangalaan begins to travel back and forth between a social and a fantasy film and the narration gets convoluted. Dialogues lack clarity and we are made to wonder where exactly the film is headed. The story in the last scene travels back to the 5th century and throws light on who Thangalaan is and his connection with Aarathy. But we don’t find it convincing enough. Pa Ranjith trying to stretch a one-liner with his usual political ideology has worked only to a small extent. He justifies it with an uncompromising effort in the making of the film.

Talking about performances, Vikram not only steals the show this time but helps us sit through the movie that lacks a powerful story but a lengthy screenplay. He is terrific in dialogues, body language and fight sequences. It would be hard for award panellists to not notice him, yet again. Not to forget his looks that he has carried well even during Ponniyin Selvan’s promotional days. He never takes it easy regardless of how good or bad the story is.

GV Prakash Kumar is a champion in background music and is the best in business, especially when it comes to period films. His music doesn’t fall flat when the story lags towards the climax. Apart from Vikram, he is another reason to watch Thangalaan. He has produced a musical spectacle that lifts the narrative. We couldn’t wait for him to release the film’s OST in the coming days.

If not for deviations and complications in the storyline, Thangalaan would have rewritten several box-office records. Nevertheless, the film still deserves a watch for National Award winners Vikram and GV Prakash Kumar’s efforts.