‘Thunivu’ movie review: Ajith Kumar moonwalks through a racy but insufficient screenplay
Ajith Kumar’s charisma takes centre stage in H Vinoth’s ‘Thunivu’, a story about corruption in private banks, but the film loses itself in some glaring issues
(Originally published in The Hindu on January 11, 2023)
Making a film for superstars like Vijay and Ajith must feel like walking barefoot on a tightrope, isn’t it? In Thunivu, his third collaboration with Ajith Kumar, H Vinoth manages to tread this fine line through a tight narration that plays with just two notes — one that lets Ajith do what he is known to do best, and a second, that tells a taut story about corruption in a style that the filmmaker is known for — and it works, mostly.
Thunivu is an out-and-out Ajith Kumar show — he enters with a bang, shakes a leg often, sends goons flying, and moonwalks through this cakewalk of a film that doesn’t demand too much from him. And, he actually moonwalks in a scene. Ajith plays a private mercenary who is only called as Dark Devil. When Radha (Veera) and his gang take control of a private bank in Chennai, Dark Devil, along with Kanmani (Manju Warrier) and their gang, double-cross them and strike a deal. Outside the bank, the Police Commissioner (Samuthirakani) takes over the case. A bank heist story with multiple surprises, letdowns, lots of bullet-spewing action, heroic triumphs and redemptions, begins. This, of course, does mean that, like in most commercial star vehicles, the hero gets a plot armour right at the beginning and it’s always important to explain yourself to a man you are about to kill. Thankfully, it’s easy to look beyond all that for Vinoth’s screenplay is racy and taut, or at least for the most part. He withholds information and peppers enough surprises to keep you hooked.
Issues grip Thunivu only after the interval block; firstly, the way Vinoth uses masala cinema’s coveted intermission sequence is novel, but….