'Thuppaki' (Tamil)
Director: AR Murugadoss
Cast: Vijay, Kajal Agarwal, Jairam and others
Set in Mumbai, 'Thuppakki' focuses on terrorism, throws light on the operation of sleeper cells, and how they are used by a few for creating havoc in the country. Considering that it is the first Vijay-Murugadoss collaboration, it does justify the hype.
Though an intelligent script, it, however, has its loopholes, glitches and mundane moments. At times, it seems like the director has compromised on his own sensibility, while trying to strike the right balance between the film and Vijay.
Vijay plays a Mumbai-based intelligence officer Jagdish, who is on a vacation. The earlier scenes move at a fast pace, where Jagdish is persuaded by his parents and sisters to go bride-hunting. The encounters between Jagdish and Nisha (a chirpy gorgeous Kajal Agarwal) are amusing. And when Jagdish’s senior steps in it’s more laughs and Jairam makes the most of his brief role.
The actor looks suave, and performs well with cool efficiency. The most commendable part of the performance is that he has concentrated on the language and learnt to speak the Mumbaikar Hindi like a native.
Pitching in his bit is Sathyan as a cop, Jagdish’s friend and support. The narration steps into a serious territory when Jagdish witnesses a bomb blast on a school bus leading to many deaths. Enlisting a group of his former batchmates, he tracks down the sleeper cells and ferrets out their operators. The film has a brilliant technical team to back it. But, in this scenario Santosh Sivan hardly gets the chance to display his talent. Harris Jairaj is not at his best.
The fight sequences have been executed with finesse and the gripping plot is well executed. How he uses the sniffer dog to lead him to the hideout, has a touch of suspense and excitement. But there are the slips too. After building an anticipation to the scene, where Jagdish meets a group of disabled armymen and enlists their help for the final operation, there is no follow up to it.
The romantic episodes keep intruding in the latter part distracting the viewer. The last parts of the film shot on a ship where Jagdish encounters the mastermind (Vidyut Jamwal), can be mistaken for any of the scenes from Vijay’s earlier films. Unfortunately, Jamwal loses out to a weak climax. 'Thuppakki' may not have the greatest script, but it will not disappoint Vijay-fans.