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Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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TAMIL ROWTHIRAM
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: **
Director Gokul`s Rowthiram, starring Jeeva and Shriya Saran (who is
seen after a long time in a Tamil film) tells you the eternal fight between good
and evil forces with the protagonist acting as an one man army, conforming to
Tamil commercial films.
The film portrays an old yet gritty man (Prakash Raj in a cameo) training and
motivating his eight-year-old grandson, Shiva, to fight against evil forces with
fury and guts. The grandpa dies and the boy grows up. Shiva (Jeeva) becomes an
one man army and takes on the rowdies who play havoc in the lives of hapless and
helpless public.
Priya (Shriya Saran), daughter of an Assistant Commissionaire of Police, is
awestruck seeing this young man taking on the goons who molested a girl. She
loves his braveness and soon falls in love with the man himself.
In the film, Shiva`s family is a type cast of commercial films. It consists of
two brothers and a sister, who is full of fun and love. The typical middle-class
family fears about Shiva`s safety and discourages him from fighting for justice.
Some law college students, who were beaten up by Shiva, approach a gangster who
promises to help them. But they want some time to swing into action as their
leader Gowri is in jail.
There is another gangster Kittu (Ganesh Acharya) who is Gowri`s rival. He is
waiting for the right time to eliminate Gowri.
Shiva accidentally bumps upon Gaowri, who conducts a kidnapping operation after
his release. Shiva hurts him badly. Gowri`s face and his ego are hurt badly. He
wants to take revenge. Predictably Kittu offers help to Shiva, but he is killed
by Gowri.
Shiva is now left alone. Virtually. He has only one support - his ladylove. She
forcibly marries him unmindful of the impending danger. Now her father uses his
police force to save Shiva but Gowri`s network is so powerful that it could
penetrate anything.
Gokul`s execution of scenes is commendable. He also tries to make the narrative
different by mixing up many things within the script. But since the premise is
old, the developments are quite predictable. This predictability mars the
impact.
He has done meticulous homework to depict the functioning of the goons and paid
killers, but he could have been a winner had he chosen a new story. He opts for
a shocking end with a message but it turns out to be unwarranted. The film`s
length (two hours and 45 minutes) is not justified by the turn of events.
The fun filled moments in the first half involving the family members and the
events related to the marriage in the family are enjoyable.
We have seen Jeeva (and many more Tamil heroes) doing the same thing many times
in the past. Practice makes one perfect and hence you can`t find any fault in
Jeeva`s acting.
Shriya, who is also well experienced in handling the glam doll roles, gets a
slightly different character of supporting the hero for his braveness and
righteous anger. The character is even ready to die for the fight against the
goons. Shriya is credible in such a role. She provides some romantic touch to
the movie full of furious fists and blood soaked sickles.
The supporting actors including Jayaprakash, Lakshmi, Srinath, and Sathyan have
done their respective jobs neatly. Sathyan and Srinath provide comical relief
(thankfully) in the first half.
Among the group of baddies Ganesh Acharya impresses with his bulky figure and
strange accent. The guy playing Gowri`s role is amazing.
Prakash Nikki`s music is just about okay with Maalai Mangum Neram
standing out. The peppy song Golly Moro is appealing.
Anal Arasu has choreographed some some breath taking action scenes. The theatre
fight is the pick of the lot.
Rowthiram has neat presentation and astonishing action sequences. But routine
storyline and unjustified length undo the efforts.
