Thangamagan (2015)

Cast	:	Dhanush, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Amy Jackson Raadhika Sarathkumar, KS Ravikumar, Sathish, Adith Arun, Prakash Kumar
Director	:	Velraj
Cinematographer	:	A Kumaran
Music	:	Anirudh Ravichander
Producer	:	Gopuram Films
Release Date	:	December 18, 2015
Length	:	2 Hours
Language	:	Tamil

My Thoughts

After the much-appreciated Velai Illa Pattathari, Velraj-Dhanush-Anirudh combo joins hand together for the much-anticipated Thangamagan.

Tamizh, enacted by Dhanush belongs to a middle class family. He lives with his parents in a small rented house, enjoying his life with his two friends – Kumaran (Sathish) and Aravind (Adith Arun). His father (K S Ravikumar) is absent minded. He is the kind of father every teenager would love to have; friendly and understanding. As a teenager, Tamizh falls in love with Hema D’Souza (Amy Jackson). After dating for a year, they part due to difference of opinions. Eventually, Hema marries Aravind. Tamizh also marries Yamuna (Samantha Ruth Prabhu). Tamizh’s life freezes when his father commits suicide. The rest of the story is about Tamizh’s efforts to unravel the mystery behind his father’s death.

At a broader level, Thangamagan story can be linked to wider issues like corruption, bribery and how money has become the center of people’s life. It can also be associated to the difficulties that good-hearted and kind men (a rarity) face in day-to-life. But, the screenplay fails to establish these ideas. The first half revolves around Tamizh and Hema. The way their love blossoms and how they eventually break-up is convincingly shown. However, Tamizh’s relationship with his parents is not well-portrayed; especially his mother. Both KS Ravikumar and Raadhika have very little role to play. On the other hand, the growing distance between Tamizh and his friend/cousin Aravind is well narrated. Yamuna comes across as a matured and stable woman with rational thinking. The relationship between Tamizh and Yamuna is beautifully conveyed.

Anirudh’s background BGM is very good. “Enna Solla” is mesmerizing (both audio and video). “Tak Bak” is peppy and catchy. “Jodi Nilave” is totally out of place and makes the second half more lagging.

The cinematographer has done great job by making the first half look colorful and the second half somber; suiting the moods of the film. A better editing could have made the second half a little better. The dialogs between Tamizh and Hema as well as Tamizh and Kumaran are nice. All others seem redundant.

In short, if story, screenplay, dialogs and the establishment of protagonist’s relationships with other characters were the strengths of Velai Illa Pattathari, they are the weaknesses of Thangamagan. Although such comparisons should never be done by movie-lovers, compromise on these critical areas should never be done by movie-makers.

In short, Thangamagan fails to hold audience’s interests.

If you are an ardent Dhanush fan (like me), you may watch it once. After all, Dhanush shines and has delivered a brilliant performance (as always).

Rating

2.5/5