Language : Tamil
Director : Vignesh Raja
Writers : Alfred Prakash, Vignesh Raja
Cast : R. Sarathkumar, Ashok Selvan, Nikhila Vimal
Genre : Action | Thriller
Streaming in Theatres near you.
Tamil cinema has been the most consistent industry in terms of delivering thrillers. While their qualities can be debatable, the quantity has always been there. And Por Thozhil is a great addition to the list of celebrated Tamil thrillers.
Much of the credit for the success of this film should go to the immaculate and ultra-focused writing that aims to be much more than the typical ‘serial killer’ investigation drama. It opens up a valid discourse about whether one should sympathise with a killer due to the circumstances that pushed him to be one or not (something Mysskin’s Psycho tried to address), and it also comes up with a neat solution for the same. It’s a layered film in that sense with minimal characters, but it provides enough insights into the psyche of each of them. There are also traces of a buddy cop genre thrown in and while it’s not explored to the fullest, it accounts for some of the lighter moments.
Sarath Kumar looks perfect for the part. It’s a film that teases the actor in him as he gets to portray a grumpy cop devoid of his usual style. Ashok Selvan plays his rookie deputy with ease and together they reminded me of Russel Crowe and Ryan Gosling from The Nice Guys; they had a great chemistry going.
I thoroughly enjoyed Por Thozhil. It isn’t exactly an edge-of-the-seat gory thriller like Ratchasan (to which it’s being compared with). But, if you’re a fan of smartly constructed thrillers that offers more than the ‘who is the killer’ trope, this one will definitely keep you invested. Give it a shot!
Verdict : 4/7 stars
Good.
