This is either going to be a really short review or a longish one.
After watching the movie (actually, about two minutes and 47 seconds into it), I was left with just two questions:
- 1. How do I say, ‘this is a bad movie’, in 500 words, interestingly?
- 2. When will I get to review a good movie?
Audience in Splits, At All the Wrong Moments
Thodari’s (Train) characters display real vengeance, anger, greed and a kind of delusional love. But just when I think I’m getting to know them, they spit out a comic one-liner that alliterates the hell out of any semblance of logic.
Is it a spoof? Is it a thriller? Is it a murder mystery? Is it a love story? Yet another attempt to insult the media (there’s a lot of that in the movie!)? No one knows. Not even Prabu Solomon (director-cum-script-writer).
Which is why in many parts of the movie, where something really emotional and senti is supposed to be going on, the audience burst out laughing.
The Good
Literally everyone in the movie has given stellar performances. Dhanush wears his pantry-boy character like a glove. Keerthy Suresh oozes innocence and makes you want to be there for her, until of course the script turns her into Popeye’s Oive Oyl. But even characters like the assistant engine driver of the TTE, who are almost in the background of the story, deliver performances that will keep you interested.
I mean, they try. But it is the train itself that builds the drama, despite the horrible graphics, by going out of control. The comedy scenes work. And so the movie will live long as LOL snippets in Aditya TV and Sirippoli (Tamil comedy staples) that play and replay and repeat comedy scenes from the movies.
The Bad
Everything, except for the performances, and the last song, ‘Pona Usuru’.
D Imman has been delivering beautifully rhythmic music steeped in hummable tunes, especially since ‘Kumki’, Prabu Solomon’s only good movie yet. But you’ll need to close your eyes and listen to the song, or you’ll start laughing at a very poignant moment and then feel bad for the actors.
Epiphany About The Bad
A friend I was talking to at the cinema hall told me Thodari reeks of Sivakarthikeyan. For those who don’t know, Sivakarthikeyan is a TV host turned actor turned block-buster star.
How big a star is he?
He does one movie a year, and that movie grosses big time. Great songs, a very loose plot and Sivakarthikeyan’s comedi-hero timing and charm – that’s the formula. My friend is right. I would expect witty one-liners from Sivakarthikeyan, regardless of the situation, because that’s his USP. It’s not his character in his movies, but the one that was in TV that still sells. Thodari got the mix all wrong, and cast Dhanush, a brilliant actor, in a jester’s role.
The Ugly
The movie’s portrayal of the media.
The GFX and sting and the look of a Prime Time show, is spot on tacky and OTT, just like real life. But then it goes south to portray all journalists (when I say all, I mean ALL) as blood-sucking soulless scumbags who care for nothing but TRPs.
As you fight for your life, and fear for your safety and for that of your loved ones, we the journalists will poke a camera in your face and ask you to look into the lens and weep.
Then there’s the audience.
There’s a scene in the movie where the runaway train has to cross an old bridge and a politician in the train says, ‘If it were built by the British, we’d be safe. But it was built after independence, so we’re dead.’ And the audience cheered and clapped and laughed. It was sickening moment and one I wish I never have to encounter again.
Dhanush Paavam Sir. (I feel sorry for Dhanush, Sir)Guy next to me as the credits rolled
Tamil Cinema, Don’t Die, Please Write
Tamil cinema matured under the Bharathi Raja and Balu Mahendran, both of whom wrote, scripted and directed their movies. What was an individual’s talent, has now turned into a trend and a status symbol. This is killing off Tamil Cinema.
Thodari, Irumugan (Chiyaan Vikram), Kabali (Rajinikanth) and Sivaji Ganesan’s later movies; these are some stark examples of wonderful performers being wasted.
I do feel sorry for Dhanush. But more so, for myself.
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