R ARIVANANTHAM
Mugavari fame Director Dhorai does a neat job of narrating the story to audiences in ‘Thalainagaram ‘, a sequel to the popular hit film Thalai Nagaram (2006), with completely different style of filmmaking in Thalainagaram 2.
Sundar C’s Thalainagaram is famous for its riotous comedy sequences starring Vadivelu as Naai Sekar, and also well-known for its interesting take on the underworld. It also gave Sundar C a chance to redefine his image as a bankable actor in the industry which saw him as a comedy film director then. Seventeen years later, Sundar C is back as Right (a) Subramaniam with a standalone sequel to Thalainagaram. It is more of a gangster actioner and has limited offerings in terms of interpersonal drama, unlike the 2006 film.
- Sundar C as the measured but majestic Right carries the film on his shoulders with grim and gory action sequences
- “Baahubali” Prabhakar as Nanjunda, too, impresses with his fear-inducing performance
Barring a passing reference to Right surviving the bloody encounter in 2006, Dhorai doesn’t sweat much to explain the years in between, nor does he try to recreate or cash in on the plot points of the original. But, he takes liberal doses of inspiration from other gangster films.
Thalainagaram 2 doesn’t come across as a wannabe film thanks to the unconventional and racy screenplay of Dhorai in the first half. Before we are introduced to Right, who is a changed man and a real estate expert at present, we are shown the world of the three major villains and their rise to power. These subplots are written with so much effort and realism that we start buying them as mafias within minutes, despite their limited performance. The unique modus operandi, want and arc of these characters gets us intrigued and anticipate a racy gangster thriller with gratifying violence. Soon, Right gets entangled in this web of crimes and the entire focus moves towards him vs rest of the underworld amping up the engagement meter. Even though the film has noticeable pitfalls in the execution, the racy screenplay and the editing that complements the narrative makes us oversee the blemishes exactly till the first half of the film. The screenplay that kept had enough surprises and stakes to keep us invested in the proceedings loses steam in the latter half and almost derails. The effort that went into introducing the bad gangster, pitting him against the ugly villains and tying knots around their equation, goes missing when the knots are untangled. The reckless second half of the film almost ruins whatever was built initially.
Cast
Sundar C, Palak Lalwani, Thambi Ramaiah, ‘Bhahubali’Prabhakar, Aayira, Jaise Jose, Vishal Rajan and Seran Raj
Crew
Direction: Dhorai VZ, Producers: SM Prabakaran, Dhorai VZ, Music: Ghibran
