Kaithi
Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj
Cast: Karthi, Narain, George Maryan, Ramana, Dheena, Harish Uthaman and Vatsan Chakravarthy
Lokesh Kanagaraj, one of the most promising new-gen filmmakers of Tamil cinema, has passed the second film test with distinction. After making his solid debut with Maanagaram a few years ago, Lokesh returns strongly with Kaithi, a relentless, punchy action film that has its heart in the right place. On paper, it’s is a story that spans across a single night and it follows events that happen in a span of four hours. It’s an idea that could’ve gone haywire because of its thin plot, but Lokesh makes the proceedings so riveting that it’s hard to bat an eyelid.
The plot is simple. Bejoy (Narain) heads a team of cops that has just confiscated a record amount of cocaine, which they hide in a secret cell under the police commissioner’s office. Bejoy gets injured in the operation but his job isn’t over yet as the drug mafia learns about the bust and sends an army to the commissioner officer. Bejoy, in order to save the situation, takes the help of Dilli, a life-term prisoner who has been released on parole to finally meet his daughter. Meanwhile, a few college students find themselves stranded in the commissioner’s office with a constable for company, and they are forced to join forces to stop the gangsters from breaking in.
Watch the trailer of Kaithi here:
Kaithi is set in a world where Kamal Haasan’s Virumaandi meets Die Hard meets Assault on Precinct 13. No Tamil action film in recent years has worked as wholesomely as Kaithi, and it’s unimaginably riveting from start to finish. This is a pure genre film and even though it panders to the masses with the way it has treated action, it’s still a refreshing departure from the doldrums of crowd-pleasing commercial cinema. This is an action film with a soul and a purpose. As much as the film relies heavily on action, it never gets repetitive in its portrayal of stunts and that’s one the primary reasons why Kaithi never gets boring. The film pays rich tributes to another Kamal Haasan film called Kuruthipunal and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed.
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The film has some really interesting characters and each one’s presence is well justified. George Maryan, for instance, plays a constable who really owns his scenes and makes a solid impact. Narain as the injured police officer brings both vulnerability and haplessness to his performance. Karthi never gets projected as the hero but he still makes one root for him with his solid performance. While it’s no surprise that he could pull off action so effortlessly, Karthi really moves you in the emotional scenes, especially where he narrates his past. Cinematographer Sathyan Sooryan deserves a special mention for the visuals, and he lights up the action scenes only with the help of lorry headlights and flashlights.
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