Review: Thupparivaalan

Director: Mysskin; Cast: Vishal, Prasanna, Vinay Rai, Baghyaraj, Andrea Jeremiah, Anu Emmanuel, John Vijay, Simran

Director: Mysskin

Cast: Vishal, Prasanna, Vinay Rai, Baghyaraj, Andrea Jeremiah, Anu Emmanuel, John Vijay, Simran and others

Music: Arrol Correlli

Make no mistake about it, this one’s a masterpiece! Tediously thought, efficiently crafted and magnificently presented, Mysskin’s Thupparivalan is as good as it can possibly get.

The film is a treat to watch and has everything that one can hope for in a crime thriller that has an ace detective, his friend and the cops pitted against a ruthless gang that is led by a shrewd and notorious murderer, who is aptly given the title, the Devil (played by Vinay Rai).

To give away any part of this exceptional story, even to kindle the interest of the audience, will be nothing short of committing a crime and therefore, I am not even going to attempt to do that.

What I cannot stop myself from doing however is showering praise on the craftsmanship of some of the technicians and actors in the film.

First in that order are the stunt choreographers and stuntmen.

The action sequences in this film deserve special mention for the simple reason that at least one of the fights will easily make it to my list of top three action sequences to have ever been featured in a Tamil movie so far.

Until now, my list of the three best ever fight sequences in a Tamil film had Cheran’s fight on the bridge in Yuddham Sei (another Mysskin marvel) in the first place. It was followed by Arun Vijay’s fight in which he covers his face in Magizh Thirumeni’s Thadaiyara Thaakka and Madhavan’s fight sequence in the subway using the coins of a beggar in a piece of cloth in Lingusamy’s Run.

After watching Thupparivalan, that list will now have Vishal’s fight sequence in a Chinese restaurant with fighters of oriental origin in the third position, pushing Madhavan’s fight sequence in Run to the fourth.

Full marks to Stunt choreographer Dinesh and to anybody else who may have contributed or participated in these fantastic sequences. More importantly, full marks to actor Vishal for delivering one of the finest action sequences in Tamil cinema.

Vishal, who plays Kaniyan Poonkundran, looks every bit the ace detective whose help the cops often seek to handle complicated cases. Both Vishal and Prasanna (who plays Kaniyan Pookundran’s friend Mano) have their characters fashioned after Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson respectively. To their credit, both deliver credible and convincing performances.

The movie moves at a brisk pace, right from start to finish and the man who must be given credit for this is Mysskin, who seems to have beautifully woven an intricate plot in his mind and through his actors, elegantly presented it to the audiences. The beauty is that he makes his creation, Kanniyan Pookundran, to follow the thread of crime using the methods that Sherlock Holmes, who was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, employed. A case in point is the manner in which Kaniyan deduces that a book on lightning physics is missing from a table. That is just one of many instances. In fact, there are even sequences featuring famous lines from Sherlock Holmes like, ”I didn’t look, I searched for it.” But Kanniyan Poongundran is not just Sherlock Holmes. He not only has the brilliant mind and eccentric nature of the ace detective, combined with it, he also has the skills of a trained Kung fu expert and a samurai warrior.

Mysskin seems to have outdone himself on this one. From the point the story begins with a small boy bringing up the case of a dead dog to the many murders that happen, Mysskin keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, wondering what will happen next.

Two of the prime reasons that help Mysskin keep audiences glued to their seats and their eyes fixed on the screen are the film’s visuals and the film’s background score. Credit for this must go to cinematographer Karthik Venkatraman and music director Arrol Correlli. In fact, after the film’s stunts, it is its background score that impresses you the most.

Mysskin has for long shown faith in this young musician and it seems to be paying him rich dividends. Arrol Correlli seems to know where to play what and more importantly, where to let silence deliver the impact. He seems to have an amazing understanding of music and the manner in which human minds react to varieties of them.

The film also some extremely good performances from Vinay Rai, Baghyaraj, Andrea, Anu Emmanuel and John Vijay. Vinay Rai in particular makes a very strong comeback with this film. Given an option, I could go on about the positives of the film but then, I run the risk of disclosing the story or at least the crucial elements  of it, which then could spoil the fun for you. So, let me get straight to the verdict.

Thupparivaalan is a must watch!