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EDITOR'S PICK
A‘Thirudan
Police'- the wonders comedy can do (IANS Tamil Movie Review)
Rating:
***1/2
Lately, it's almost impossible to find a Tamil film without comedy. Even if
someone makes a full length action film, you're forced to laugh at a few places
for reasons even the filmmaker can't explain. But not all filmmakers succeed in
using comedy to their strength, but there are exceptions like Nalan Kumarasamy,
Karthik Subbaraj, who know exactly how to use it in their films without diluting
the core subject.
Debutant Caarthick Raju deserves to be included that list for proving how comedy
when used the way it's supposed to be used can make a lot of difference to the
story.
Caarthick's 'Thirudan Police' is the story about a father (a police constable)
and son (Vishwa, a wastrel), their relationship, whose importance the latter
only realizes quite late in life. It's also a thriller, about the hunt for the
killer of the father, who gets killed while on duty.
The initial moments between the father and son are quite boring, something we've
regularly seen in Tamil cinema. There's a strict, disciplinarian father, who is
abhorred by his son and never understood. The father is authoritative because he
doesn't want his son to do the same mistakes he did while growing up, which are
the lack of proper education and the irresponsible attitude towards life. In a
touching scene, explaining why he's tough on the son, the father tells his wife
that he wants to see his son receiving salutes and not vice versa.
When Vishwa slips into the shoes of his father, literally, after he's given his
job, he starts missing him and realises all that he did for the family. In
another beautiful scene, the hero's friend, who is tired of listening to him yap
about his dead father, asks him why he only talks about his dad at night and
never during the day. Vishwa, innocently, replies that he's seen his father come
home usually at night. In another scene, Vishwa refuses to booze from money
earned through bribery because his father had always been loyal.
The tinge of comedy in these scenes guarantees entertainment. These moments are
emotional for Vishwa, who is finally getting to know his father, but for
audiences it would've gotten highly melodramatic if not for the role of Bala
Saravanan. Bala is like a viewer, who reacts to every emotional outburst in the
story with his funny lines (in an irritated tone like how audiences would
react), so aptly written, which he delivers nonchalantly. This totally works in
the favour of the film and even in the most emotional scene; you're laughing
your guts out. But Caarthick's intent to focus on the father-son relationship
(even in the absence of the former) doesn't fade out.
Caarthick takes a dig at his own story through some of his characters. The last
20 minutes of the film, which are owned by John Vijay and Rajendran, are the
best moments one can look forward to. It's also the best twist one could expect
in a revenge drama, which are usually about settling score. It's in the climax
portion, Thirudan Police, shows how comedy can do wonders in a story if one
knows how to use it.
The story also makes us realise the hardship of a policeman's job, especially of
those in the lower ranks. Naren gets a meaty role as the police commissioner,
which he plays to the hilt. Dinesh, for about 15 minutes in the beginning, acts
with the hangover of 'Cuckoo', his last film in which he played a blind
character. We get some great performances from John Vijay and Rajendran even in
roles that are mostly caricaturish.
'Thirudan Police' is your average revenge drama that gets salvaged by some great
comedy, the kind audiences don't mind paying for.
Director Caarthick Raju's forthcoming Tamil action-comedy "Thirudan Police", which releases in cinemas Friday, will focus on a father-son relationship that will be explored as a tribute to all fathers.Read More
Mobile app lets user play lead of 'Thirudan Police'The makers of upcoming Tamil action-comedy "Thirudan Police" have launched a mobile application, which will allow the user to replace his or her face with that of the lead cast of the film.Read More