Thoonga Vanam Movie Review

Direction : Rajesh M. Selva
Written : Frederic Jardin, Nicolas Saada
Producer : Kamal Haasan, S. Chandrahasan, Gokulam Gopalan, V. C. Praveen, Baiju Gopalan
Cast : Kamal Hassan, Trisha, Prakash Raj, Kishore, Asha Sarath
Music : M. Ghibran
Cinematography : Sanu Varghese
Editing : Shan Mohammed
Production Company : Raaj Kamal Films International, Sri Gokulam Movies
Running Time : 127 mins
Release Date : 10th November 2015

Story of a father’s fight to rescue his son from a dangerous drug mafia. Kamalhaasan proves once again why he is considered the best in giving remake movies better than original ! Yes, Thoongavanam is the remake of 2012 French film ‘Sleepless Night’ written by Frederic Jardin and Nicolas Saada.

Kamal’s unique way of acting, Style, body language and expressions are awesome, no wonder why he is Ulaganayagan.

Kamalhaasan as Narcotics control officer C K Diwakar, perfect fit to the role.This is his third outing in 2015 after – Uthamavillain and Paapanasam, We never get bored seeing him on screen.  Its pleasure to watch his screen presence.

Trisha as police officer, a different role from her earlier movies. She gets few meaty scenes in the second half, especially the action sequences in the kitchen. Prakashraj as drug mafia leader Vittal Raj, yet again delivers a catchy performance. There are many supporting characters starting from Kishore, Sambath, Madhu Shalini, Asha Sharath, Yugi Sethu, the kid to Jegan, all did justice to their roles.

Kudos for the heart pumping BGM from Ghibran. Music lifts the film to the next level.

Music by Kamal’s favorite composer Ghibran.To be mentioned that the audio album has only one song ’Neeye unakku raja…’, surprisingly it has been included in the end credits of the film.Watch out for the dance movements from Ulaganayagan and team in this song. Dance bar scenes and action block sequence music is in top notch.

Technically the film is too good.The action sequences are choreographed in a very stylish manner. Sanu Varghese’s cinematography is mind blowing, night scenes inside the dance bar have been captured beautifully to set the mood. Almost 90% of the film has been shot inside the pub. Shan Mohammed’s Editing deserves a special mention.

Director Rajesh has given complete justice to kamal’s gripping screenplay.

Directed by debutant Rajesh M Selva, who is Kamal’s assistant for almost 8 long years.  He has also done a interesting cameo role.Timing Dialogues are good, neatly modified to match the pulse of viewers.Film duration is just 2 hours 7 minutes, which is a major plus.

Highlights of the film are Kamal Haasan’s performance, Ghibran’s music, good casting,Kamal-Prakash raj scenes, Kitchen fight sequence between Kamal-Trisha and Kamal-Kishore.Though the team says that the film is inspired from French movie ‘Sleepless Night’, the fact is, there are not many changes made to the original screenplay.