Thani Oruvan: Ordinary fare gets extraordinary appeal due to Arvind Swamy

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Hello Friends,

Am still wondering what is so different about this film that there is so much talk about it? Frankly speaking Thani Oruvan is just another decent film with the usual medley of good cop, deadly villains, long fights, ugly thugs, mindless torture, heroine chasing the hero – SAME. The only redeeming factor is the classy villain that Arvind Swamy portrays. He comes in like a breath of fresh air and saves the film to the best that he can. But then he can’t also do much as towards the end the drama gets so complicated that the viewer gives up in keeping track of the storyline.

Plot:

Mithran (Jeyam Ravi) is a police officer in training who along with his cohorts leads a double life. As in, they sneak out of their Police Academy during the nights to roam the city and curb violence and crime. And it is during such encounters they realize that most of the crimes committed are instigated by three main characters who are the underworld dons. These dons, from murder, rape, organ selling, drugs and illegal international connections – do just about everything (as expected). And for Mithran the biggest revelation is that all these three dons have a super boss: Sidhharth Abhimanyu (Arvind Swamy) the mastermind behind all this.

Naturally Mithran shifts focus to Sidhharth Abhimanyu and considers killing him as his life’s ambition. And how can we forget Mahima (Nayanthara) an IPS officer who gives up such a coveted profession to take up forensic studies. (Is switching careers so easy? how I wish!) So after many twists and turns, after many killings and spying Sidhharth Abhimanyu gets caught. But he gets a one last chance to wear a bullet proof jacket for safety and confess and bring out all the hideous VIPs involved. But he chooses not to take this opportunity, and finally succumbs to bullets. This is an arrangement by Mithran to give the impression that Sidhharth is dead in an encounter so that they can take him to safety. But then as Sidhharth is devoid of the bullet proof jacket gets killed but leaves all the evidence behind for Mithran.

COSTUMES:

Nayanthara’s outfits are good, but her dresses are getting only shorter. All others were dressed appropriately. However, Arvind Swamy’s wardrobe could have had more finesse, for such a classy villain his suits were a bit ill fitting. It seemed like he was wearing the suit from his wedding reception of many many years ago. Sad, for such a dignified and good looking actor, the shirts and trousers he wore were like ‘hand me downs’. Even if he had appeared in his own clothes, it would have been so much better. But Arvind Swamy can lend dignity, poise and grace to any character whatever he wore, and that is what he did here as well in spite of the short suits. Poor Swamy!

DÉCOR:

It was so obvious that the Police Academy, Mithran’s studio and several other places were sets created. The Art Department scores only when the sets are unobtrusive, and that just did not happen.

ACTING:

When it comes to acting, one person who made an immense impact was Thambi Ramiah. As the scared father playing second fiddle to Arvind Swamy he excels and leaves you giggling away. And needless to add, Arvind Swamy dazzles as the baddie, but if you remember him as the collector from Thalapathy – it is a tad difficult to accept him as the villain. But he does immense justice to his role, but he could have waited to take on something meatier than this one. His comeback could have been planned better so that even if he was signing up for a negative role it could have had more depth – rather than just shooting stylishly with a chewing gum. Jeyam Ravi does his role well and Nayanthara looks good. Period!

BT BOTTOM LINE: