It is not so easy to visualise a gripping true crime incident, that had happened long ago in dark. But, for filmmaker H Vinoth, it seems not to be a mammoth task, after witnessing the premier of 'Theeran Adhikaram Ondru', starring Karthi Sivakumar and Rakul Preeth Singh in the lead along with Bose Venkat, Rohith Pathak and Varghese Mathew in significant roles.
The Content:
Theeran's plot is completely based on a true investigation taken up by Tamil Nadu police on the series of highway dacoity during the late 1990s and in the rise of 2000s. Though, the plot is based on true events, Vinoth has managed to make it so gripping and nail biting by adding flavours of personal emotions of police personnel who are investigating it. Theeran's run time is quite long but is engaging throughout. The way, the plot is built and the crime scene is detailed is the first success of the movie. Unlike any other cinematic police stories, Theeran is not so cliched, but equally emphasises both the success and failure of the police department with limited heroism and unlimited investigation. One best example for this is the scene where Theeran teaches how to hold a knife left by a criminal - this scenes, simply smacks down the 80 year old Tamil cinema logic.
The Ideology:
Theeran, nowhere justifies crime. But, it does detail on why are these crimes happening and how they were intimidated first. The influence of Mughals and Britishers in making hundreds of communities across India as Crime Tribes (known as well as Kutra Parambarai in Tamil) is detailed in the movie. The original agenda behind declaring them as Kutra Parambarai too has been discussed in the movie. Still, the detail was less since, the movie focuses on the other side of the crime, 'Police'. Likewise, Vinoth also has added minute detailing of petty crimes like bero pulling, apparently with humour.
The Cast:
It's finally Karthi's time to roar. The actor, who already had set a benchmark of a rugged and strict police officer in Siruthai, has moved a step ahead by redefining the police grammar of Tamil cinema. He really makes one think whether anyone else could fit in the character of Theeran other than him. While Rakul, who plays the role of Theeran's better half, has a better screen space too. Her character has significance in the plot which also adds up tension in the interval block. Rakul has played the role in a lovely and a cute fashion. Besides the two, Bose Venkat's role is one of the notable ones in the movie. His body-language and physique aligns well with his character. The emotional connect between Bose and Karthi is detailed in a couple of scenes in which both the actors have expressed well. For a movie like Theeran, that portrays aggressive dacoity, a bad guy role played by Rohith Pathak has turned out to be an extra weightage. Rohith's conjurous role just shakes the audience and develops an unknown fear inside, despite it being just a movie.
The Crew:
Theeran's first technical strength is it's cinematography. The lens work by Sathyan Sooryan has made the dacoity sequences real time. Every assault by the dacoity gang is recorded well and frightens the spectators. On the other hand, Sathyan has not failed to capture the true colours of the deserted Rajasthan and other parts of India. Adding to this, Ghibran's original score runs with the screenplay to make Theeran's flavour more interesting and enthralling. While, T Shivanandeeswaran's cuts sums it up all and presents a hard-hitting investigation thriller on screen. The DI-colouring and sound-mixing of Theeran needs a special mention, for keeping up the mood of the movie live. Especially, the efforts of the DI-colourist in the interval block of the movie has just replicated a raining dark night. One more mention would Dilip Subbrayan. His alignment with Vinoth in making some peculiar stunt formats like the one seen in the teaser where Karthi and his team come out of the ground. There is also a minute detail of a wolf pack hunting technique adopted in a stunt.
The Director:
Vinoth, who already was admired for his much detailed heist thriller Sathuranga Vettai, has again proved his skills in his second outing Theeran Adhikaram Ondru. Vinoth's efforts in detailing the history of crime tribes of the British era and their connect with the modern age, is truly appreciable. With this, the filmmaker also has touched why an entire community is shaded black, and who were responsible for that. His dialogues too are brilliant and does not bore at any point. The narration of every historic background and it's portrayal in animated format resembles to that of The Davinci Code. Vinoth also has allotted a large space to elaborate the pride of Tamil Nadu police and their investigation methods.
Overall:
Though the movie has some pace dropping love sequences, it gears up once the investigation starts and maintains the same pace till the end, apparently adding respect Tamilnadu Police Department. Towards the end, the voice of Nasser describing the true incident and the aftereffects of it adds up more base to the plot. Unfortunately, the movie ends with a sad note that none of the police personnel involved in the investigation was rewarded for their risky efforts. Hope, Theeran could match their pain to a certain limit.
- Santhosh Mathevan,
Chennai, November 17, 2017
This viewer's note is completely based on the perceptions of Santhosh Mathevan alone. This does not reflect the views of two or more people or a community. Queries and criticism shall be addressed to the writer only.
The Content:
Theeran's plot is completely based on a true investigation taken up by Tamil Nadu police on the series of highway dacoity during the late 1990s and in the rise of 2000s. Though, the plot is based on true events, Vinoth has managed to make it so gripping and nail biting by adding flavours of personal emotions of police personnel who are investigating it. Theeran's run time is quite long but is engaging throughout. The way, the plot is built and the crime scene is detailed is the first success of the movie. Unlike any other cinematic police stories, Theeran is not so cliched, but equally emphasises both the success and failure of the police department with limited heroism and unlimited investigation. One best example for this is the scene where Theeran teaches how to hold a knife left by a criminal - this scenes, simply smacks down the 80 year old Tamil cinema logic.
The Ideology:
Theeran, nowhere justifies crime. But, it does detail on why are these crimes happening and how they were intimidated first. The influence of Mughals and Britishers in making hundreds of communities across India as Crime Tribes (known as well as Kutra Parambarai in Tamil) is detailed in the movie. The original agenda behind declaring them as Kutra Parambarai too has been discussed in the movie. Still, the detail was less since, the movie focuses on the other side of the crime, 'Police'. Likewise, Vinoth also has added minute detailing of petty crimes like bero pulling, apparently with humour.
The Cast:
It's finally Karthi's time to roar. The actor, who already had set a benchmark of a rugged and strict police officer in Siruthai, has moved a step ahead by redefining the police grammar of Tamil cinema. He really makes one think whether anyone else could fit in the character of Theeran other than him. While Rakul, who plays the role of Theeran's better half, has a better screen space too. Her character has significance in the plot which also adds up tension in the interval block. Rakul has played the role in a lovely and a cute fashion. Besides the two, Bose Venkat's role is one of the notable ones in the movie. His body-language and physique aligns well with his character. The emotional connect between Bose and Karthi is detailed in a couple of scenes in which both the actors have expressed well. For a movie like Theeran, that portrays aggressive dacoity, a bad guy role played by Rohith Pathak has turned out to be an extra weightage. Rohith's conjurous role just shakes the audience and develops an unknown fear inside, despite it being just a movie.
The Crew:
Theeran's first technical strength is it's cinematography. The lens work by Sathyan Sooryan has made the dacoity sequences real time. Every assault by the dacoity gang is recorded well and frightens the spectators. On the other hand, Sathyan has not failed to capture the true colours of the deserted Rajasthan and other parts of India. Adding to this, Ghibran's original score runs with the screenplay to make Theeran's flavour more interesting and enthralling. While, T Shivanandeeswaran's cuts sums it up all and presents a hard-hitting investigation thriller on screen. The DI-colouring and sound-mixing of Theeran needs a special mention, for keeping up the mood of the movie live. Especially, the efforts of the DI-colourist in the interval block of the movie has just replicated a raining dark night. One more mention would Dilip Subbrayan. His alignment with Vinoth in making some peculiar stunt formats like the one seen in the teaser where Karthi and his team come out of the ground. There is also a minute detail of a wolf pack hunting technique adopted in a stunt.
The Director:
Vinoth, who already was admired for his much detailed heist thriller Sathuranga Vettai, has again proved his skills in his second outing Theeran Adhikaram Ondru. Vinoth's efforts in detailing the history of crime tribes of the British era and their connect with the modern age, is truly appreciable. With this, the filmmaker also has touched why an entire community is shaded black, and who were responsible for that. His dialogues too are brilliant and does not bore at any point. The narration of every historic background and it's portrayal in animated format resembles to that of The Davinci Code. Vinoth also has allotted a large space to elaborate the pride of Tamil Nadu police and their investigation methods.
Overall:
Though the movie has some pace dropping love sequences, it gears up once the investigation starts and maintains the same pace till the end, apparently adding respect Tamilnadu Police Department. Towards the end, the voice of Nasser describing the true incident and the aftereffects of it adds up more base to the plot. Unfortunately, the movie ends with a sad note that none of the police personnel involved in the investigation was rewarded for their risky efforts. Hope, Theeran could match their pain to a certain limit.
- Santhosh Mathevan,
Chennai, November 17, 2017
This viewer's note is completely based on the perceptions of Santhosh Mathevan alone. This does not reflect the views of two or more people or a community. Queries and criticism shall be addressed to the writer only.
