Detective thrillers and mind game plots are a rarity in Tamil cinema. Now with the arrival of new-gen filmmakers, Tamil cinema audiences are slowly witnessing such genres. Debut director Ramesh's Thegidi falls under such a rare genre. Does he succeed in it? Read on to know...
Vetri (Ashok Selvan) is a criminology student and he gets a job as a detective in Chennai. Being passionate, Ashok does his job with his whole- heart and soul, his agency is also impressed with his efficiency in handling various subjects. When Ashok is asked to handle a case of Madhu Shree ( Janani Iyer) ,both starts loving each other.
After sometime, Ashok comes to know that some of his previous subjects are murdered by unusual accidents. What happens next? Why all the previous subjects handled by Ashok are in danger? Does Ashok saves Janani ? Well, to know the answers you have to watch Thegidi on the big screen...
Debut director Ramesh takes his own time in the first half for establishing various characters and also to convey the basic theme to the audience which is fine and no big complaints about the pace. Coming to the second half, the film travels in a good pace and the twists are well sketched and narrated. Taking the direction part into consideration, Ramesh must be lauded for his brilliant effort.
Coming to the casting, Ashok Selvan has given a fair performance, but what is really missing is the energy level and the expressions. In Pizza2, Ashok's character is of a novel writer and his subtle expressions justified the role. But for a thriller like Thegidi, the tensed expressions of the lead characters have to create the impact to the audience. In Thegidi, Ashok has underplayed, probably a fine tuning of his expressions and energy levels should have done wonders.
Janani Iyer has given an adequate performance and essayed her role of a girl next door with so much ease. The romance portions between Ashok and Janani are also quite natural, which must be appreciated.
Kaali, who acted as Ashok's friend has done a commendable job and his subtle one-liners evoke some good laughter. The other characters like Jayakumar, Pradeep Nair have done a good work. Just like any other recent films not to forget Jayaprakash who is brilliant as an Inspector.
Technically the film is sound- be it the title card edit, cinematography and the music- everything is well-jelled in the film. Newbie Nivas Prasanna is a welcome addition to the promising list of music directors in Tamil cinema. His BGM works are also quite laudable.
Overall, Thegidi is a fair mind game, which is sure to have to grab your attention.
Rajasekar S, Cinemalead.
