Review for THUNIVU:
(REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI R)
•Language: TAMIL
•Duration: 02 Hours 26 Minutes.
•Genre:Action Thriller.
- POSITIVES:
1: Performance of Ajith Kumar
2: Story
3: Decent direction
4: Action sequences
5: Thrilling first half
6: Cinematography
7: Editing
NEGATIVES:
1: Second half could have been done better
2: Lag felt in between the second half
3: Illogical scenes.
•ONE WORD: ‘Thunivu’ is an action treat for Ajith Kumar fans.
•STORY IDEA:
A bank called Your Bank will store an illegal money of five hundred crores and some thieves with the help of a police officer will make a plan to rob the money. Everything will go under the plan and the heist will occur but during the robbery an unknown person will arrive and will take control of the heist from the robbers. What will happen next, who is he and why he takes the charge of the heist and what are his plans and intentions?
•DETAIL REVIEW:
The film Thunivu is directed and written by H. Vinoth and produced by Boney Kapoor. The film comes under Bayview Projects LLP and Zee Studios and Red Giant Movies do the distribution for Thunivu. It’s the third collaboration of Ajith Kumar and H. Vinoth with the producer Boney Kapoor. The film comes with a duration of 146 minutes and is currently running with a U/A censor certificate.
Bank robbery, heist and hostage situations with a crazy fearless hero is what the movie Thunivu is all about. I enjoyed the film, it was thrilling and entertaining and had given me a decent satisfying theater experience. The daring and roaring performance of Ajith Kumar and his brilliant screen presence was all over plugged into the film. The one-man show of Ajith Kumar can be seen throughout, his energy and how he transforms into his character was amazing. The movie reminded me of last year’s much anticipated film Beast, it didn’t work out well but the premise and surroundings of Thunivu reminded me of Vijay’s Beast. But Thunivu is not like Beast, it’s different and the execution was better than Beast. When looking deeply in Thunivu the director H. Vinoth had engagingly made the film and it was thrilling at the same time, also the movie was insured with an interesting backstory. So the overall package of Thunivu had the components for a good one-time theatre experience.
The plots of bank robberies and hijack situations are nowadays common but what I liked in Thunivu is the reason behind the bank hijack. It’s not just about looting of money, the plot of the film discusses an important scam. It is socially relevant and how it was portrayed in the film was impressive. From a bank robbery how the movie touches into that scam was thrilling. The making and action sequences had given a decent amount of curiosity, the reason behind the heist was making my watching experience intriguing. I was wondering what it would be and will it make an impact and luckily the script and making went with the right flow. The subplot in this film is brilliant, as the director of the film H. Vinoth had shown it authentically. Financial scams happening around us are unique and through banks how it is happening and what are the business gains and who all are being cheated with this scam was brilliantly executed by H. Vinoth. In the script, those areas were written nicely and how it connects to the hero character of Ajith was also pleasing.
The direction of H. Vinoth is having both positives and negatives.
The first half was superb, it was thoroughly engaging and thrilling and the direction of H. Vinoth was on the right track. The beginning of the film started with a bang and it continued to hold the momentum till the first half. How the robbery is done, the plans, unexpected occurrences, and how Ajith Kumar’s character dominates everyone will make the viewers hooked. I didn’t feel a single lag in the first half but slowly from the second half the totality of the movie was changing. In the second half H. Vinoth started to reveal the subplot and the movie was maintaining an engaging mood. But after the revealing of the subplot, the direction of H. Vinoth started to show some lag. The movie began to get slow and the scenes were getting dragged. The interrogation scenes between Ajith and the villains were stretched unnecessarily. The mid-second half of Thunivu is average, many scenes should have been trimmed. But towards the climax, the movie tried to regain momentum. The action sequences were crammed in the ending and it was good but could have been better. The ultimate climax of the boat chase scene was supposed to create an impact but it ended in an okay manner. So the mid portions of the second half and climax action sequences were not that attractive, and the thrilling mood seen in the first half was missing in the second half.
The performance of Ajith Kumar was magnificent, his character shade as both hero and villain was amazing. He just came and stole the show through his shining performance. His energy, his dialogue delivery, his powerful voice and his dazzling screen presence will make the money worth. When it comes to action and attitude Ajith Kumar does some kind of magic to grab our attention and in Thunivu the same magic hasn’t lost its gleam. The way he transforms into the character and the way he controls the heist in Thunivu is captivating. Like I said, the dialogue and his voice was extremely powerful and it will blow our mind, we will be thrilled and he will make you do whistles and applause. The action sequences of Ajith Kumar were vigorous and the white-coloured hair and the beard look was attractive. Manny Warrier did a great job, actually she shocked me with her performance. When the trailer was released it showed the glimpse of Manju Warrier doing action sequences and I was having doubts whether she would be able to do action sequences. But I was wrong, she did a stunning performance, and her looks and attitude with guns were eye-catching. The combination scene of Manju Warrier with Ajith Kumar as a partner in crime was great. Samuthirakani, Bagavathi Perumal and Ajay as the police officers did a good supporting role. Their performance was fine and their characters were having important screen space. John Kokken did a fine job as the main villain, his looks were stylish and the overall performance was satisfying.
The music of Gibran deserves special mention, the song “Chilla Chilla” had a great impact inside the theater and I loved the beat of the song. The voice of Anirudh and the dance moves of Ajith Kumar made the song effective. The song “Gangstaa” showed the stylish mass look of Ajith Kumar and the vocals of Shabir were strong enough to set the mood. The background scores in the film were also adequate, the tunes and set the required amount of thrills. The bank robbery scene, the climax boat chase scene and the emotional scene in the second half had the right set of tunes to lift the mood so the musical work of Gibran was perfect. Nirav Shah had done the cinematography and I would say it’s one of his finest works. The fight sequences inside the bank were blended with stunning shots. One of the fight sequences which had the three-sixty-degree rotating type of shot was brilliant. In that action sequence, the visuals made the fight of Ajith Kumar look thrilling. The boat chase scene and the inside bank visuals were also shot convincingly, and the blast scenes and also close-up shots of Ajith Kumar were captured flawlessly. The editing of Vijay Velukutty was ok, for avoiding some lag he should have trimmed some scenes in the second half for a smooth watch. The transition of the scene was perfect and mismatches were never felt. The man behind action sequences also deserves my heart, all the fight sequences looked thrilling and exciting. The action choreographer had given the right style of fight sequences for Ajith Kumar and it made his fight look mass and stylish.
.•CONCLUSION:
So overall ‘Thunivu’ had given me a good experience, I loved the film. The direction and script of H. Vinoth had the elements for an engaging thrilling movie and the one-man show of Ajith Kumar was a treat to watch. The screen presence of Ajith Kumar was simply brilliant, from the very beginning till the end he doesn’t forget to entertain. The film is having an incredible first half and an above-average second half if the director H. Vinoth had given some more focus to the second half Thunivu would have been the sure shot Pongal winner. Therefore, I will recommend Thunivu for this Pongal festival and if you are a fan of Ajith Kumar then don’t miss Thunivu from the big screen.
- RATING: 3/5
- A Review by ARUNJYOTHI. R
