8 Thottakkal Movie Review

April 7, 2017

2 minutes read

Review Overview

Performances

Plot & Narration

Technical Aspects and Music

A promising newcomer dishes out a worthy crime drama

If you are an ardent film buff, 8 Thottakkal should be on your watch list this weekend. It is unevenly paced and has a few frills. Still, director Sriganesh deserves a warm welcome from viewers.

Cast: Vetri, Aparna Balamurali, Nasser, MS Bhaskar, Mime Gopi & others

Cinematography: Dinesh K Babu

Music: Sundaramurthy KS

Editing: Nagooran Ramachandran

Stunts: Dilip Subarayan

Written & Directed by: Sri Ganesh

Produced by: Big Print Pictures & Vetrivel Saravana Cinemas

Distribution: Sakthi Film Factory

Release Date: 07-04-2017

Run Time: 02:25:00

8 Thottakkal comes at a time when fresh films directed by young filmmakers are ruling the roost in Kollywood. Thankfully, the film is a worthy addition to the lineage of Dhuruvangal 16 and Maanagaram. Directed by debutant Sriganesh (a former associate of Mysskin), 8 Thottakkal is a mature crime drama set in the world of cops and petty criminals. The youngster’s film-making style and theme bear a fair resemblance to his guru’s.

A rookie cop loses his pistol (loaded with 8 bullets) to a pickpocket on a public bus. This sets in motion a chain of crimes, including a bank robbery and many murders. Whether the perpetrators are identified, whether he gets back his pistol and salvages his job, what is the motto of the crimes and more questions are answered over the course of the run time.

The film moves at a leisurely pace and has extended stretches dominated by dialogues. The first half lasts for just an hour while the second half is almost 90 mins long. 8 Thottakal can use a fair bit of trimming for a more engaging viewing experience. Particularly, the couple of song sequences with the lead pair are plain distractions, adding nothing to the flow of the story.

Debut lead actor Vetri has the looks to pass off as a young cop but lags behind in expressions. He isn’t able to complement veterans like MS Bhasker and Nasser, who are in splendid form. Aparna Balamurali looks homely and gets the language right. She has a small part as the love interest, journalist who stands by the hero.

MS Bhasker gets his most meaty part till date and does full justice to it. As a veteran cop who has to grapple with many issues on the domestic and professional front, he is fantastic. He single-handedly holds one long emotional scene which happens at a canteen. He shows sides of his craft hitherto unseen by us. Kudos!

Support actors Manikandan and Lallu (as the co-accused in the bank robbery) are mighty impressive too. But Mime Gopi is getting typecast, with the same set of expressions and similar dialogue delivery.

Composer K.S.Sundaramoorthy uses mostly the piano in his re-recording for emotional scenes. This brings in monotony to the proceedings. But the crowd-pleasing scene with MS Bhasker towards the end is bolstered by the composer with a nice groovy mix of synth / EDM.

If you are an ardent film buff, 8 Thottakkal should be on your watch list this weekend. It is unevenly paced and has a few frills. Still, director Sriganesh deserves a warm welcome from viewers.