Thangalaan

The first half of the movie was thrilled, felt like mad Max movies.. brain feel like heavy.. story, acting, BG music everything coincide...

But in the second half started slowly and then story went like rollercoaster. Unable to understand fully ,it means second time should watch to understand??

Overall story was PRE KFG.. But lost between Real and Ghost.

Good comeback for chiyan Vikram.

Parvathi,Menon, pasupathi acting was too good. GV Prakash music big plus for this movie. Arathi character theeanted..

Some scenes they would have taken well in the second half. The importance of gold for British .

In Thangalaan, Vikram delivers a performance reminiscent of his iconic role in Sivaputhrudu showcasing once again why he's considered a self-made actor. His acting in this film feels incredibly natural, with a depth that reflects his legendary status. The movie's storyline revolves around a tribal community and their struggles. Initially, these tribespeople work tirelessly in agriculture, but eventually, they are drawn into gold mining, leading to devastating consequences, including the loss of family members and defeat by fate.

While Thangalaan presents a powerful narrative, it hasn't quite achieved commercial success. The film's focus on the hardships of an ancient tribe, which no longer exists, is brought to life through Vikram's performance, the script, and the director's vision. Despite the film's underperformance at the box office, Vikram's portrayal stands out, proving once again that he is a truly legendary actor.

Parts of Thangalaan is incredible but overall, it's a bit muddled. I read that Ranjith had narrated the original script to Vikram back in 2014 and it didn't happen back then and after KGF released Ranjith chose to rewrite the script due to a lot of similarities. I'd guess that the rewrites are what made this movie lose its focus.

The way the movie uses folklore-like mysticism as a political tool and the visual narrative techniques used for it were incredible. However, the movie felt like it was constantly shifting focus and did not give the impact each event had. There is a lot of focus on Thangalan's family but that is not properly paid off emotionally when such an event happens. By then the movie wasn't interested in the family, so why focus on them so much? At the start of the quest for gold, it felt like they weren't completely committed to making it as dangerous or impactful as it could have been.

Despite all these issues, the parts that worked for me worked great. Vikram and Parvathy keep showing what beasts of actors they are throughout the movie. The choice to make it unclear if a lot of things happen in the character's mind or if it's actually mystical was nicely executed. Those scenes where the movie uses its full audio-visual potential were the best part of the movie for me. But that's also where it makes you feel why they didn't focus on that stuff and even the Naga clans.

I've read and heard many people say the ending was abrupt. I'd agree that the ending reveal of the history and the conclusion to that was a bit abrupt but the very end was truly apt for such a story. There is no end to the struggles of the oppressed but after a certain point, they stand up and fight for justice because they will be forced to.

Overall, this is the most vocal in its politics among Pa Ranjith's films which is surprising since he's always been political with his movies. This movie excelled in certain areas but there was a lot that made it feel all over the place without a focus too. But overall, it was really good.

As is the case with all Pa Ranjith's movies, he delves into politics of the caste system in this one as well. However, he deals with it in a much more poetic manner compared to his previous ones. The feels almost surreal thanks to its immersive cinematography and background music. It almost felt like GV Prakash saved all his best work for this movie.

Vikram and Parvathy Thiruvothu put up stellar performances as Thangalaan and Gengamma. The production design is top notch in showing the desert like conditions of the Kolar region. The make-up and costumes were raw and true to the world that Pa Ranjith had built. His movies are not for everyone. You either love them or hate them. I fall into the first category for this movie. I highly recommend watching it if you like Pa Ranjith's style.

CinephileIndia2023.

A total fictional story that doesn't hold much relevance for current era. Story is basically a period drama wherein a man named Thangalan belonging to a labour class along with his community goes as a guiding help for Britishers in gold mining n then there happens super natural incidences n clashes between that community n British. Movie started very well but soon lost complete track. Lots of same repetitive story scenes plus movie is very slow paced. Whatsoever, movie made no much sense to me. Originally a Tamil movie dubbed in all South Indian languages. Available in Netflix, my ratings 5/10!