Thangalaan

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!

Set in the British era, Thangalaan lives with his wife and children, only person to own a land in his village and thus, is the village chief. His co-villagers are working as bonded labourers for the Zamindar and are looked down upon by the upper caste. Thangalaan likes to tell bedtime stories to his children and one such story is about there sorceress Aarathi, protector of the forests. Elsewhere, Lord Clement is looking for the gold, buried deep in the forest and nobody has been able to find it. Thangalaan, a direct descendant to Kaadaiyan who did find the gold. Clement seeks Thangalaan's help to find gold. Thangalaan wants to use this as an opportunity to break out of slavery and build a respectable life for all. What happens on this journey and will they succeed in finding the golds? How do they defeat Aarathi and what truth gets uncovered along the way, forms rest of the story.

Pa. Ranjith has come up with an intriguing story, merging both mythology and history together while lacing it with his social commentary. He has got a solid cast led by Chiyaan Vikram and Parvathy, to carry the film which they all do with aplomb. The conviction they put in portraying their characters deserves all the applause. Having said that, Pa. Ranjith's vision is far too ambitious than the end product he had to settle with. The vfx does come in the way, in the crucial scenes and I wished for the narrative to have been stronger here, in captivating the viewers than visually trying to. This led to the lack of wow factors whenever the Aarathi confronts them, tricks them and those segments needed to be bit more sharp. The film's pace does dip in the second half and the final reveal actually deserved a better build up for a better pay off. Overall, it can be still be watched for the Director's vision and the actors' dedication.

Hats off to the team for everything they can do at their best...the visual and music was cerebral especially the language they used across various time periods was extravagant yet they could've done more research on the 18th century how the community has lived coz everyone was a (orukudimakka) they lived as one he uses some dialogue to show everyone lived together yet it's not enough.you will know what I mean when you understand we call our ancestors (paran parai )aai is the way of living where women is also a leader of the pack and still I have doubts in naming it's either (aadhan aadhani) ✌🏼

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.