Etharkum Thuninthavan Movie Review

Pandiraj is one director who always finds his groove in churning out mass entertainers that have their knees deep in familial emotions and societal values. Rightly so, the director follows his blockbuster formula of Kadaikutty Singam and Namma Veetu Pillai in Etharkum Thuninthavan.

The film opts for a very generic backdrop of a man fighting against the wrongdoings in the society, and what happens when his own life is affected by a dangerous villain gang who wreak havoc in the city by committing crimes against women. The film is very basic in its approach, and does not try to opt for new modes of narratives, unfamiliar behaviour from the actors or anything out of the box. Yet, what it gets right is in its idealogy to present the core topic of women safety with a clean and green attitude towards it. Until the first half comes to an end, Etharkum Thuninthavan is a simple mass entertainer that celebrates its star, gives in space to the family comics and love tracks. It is only in the second half that the film flies above the baseline, and moves into a zone where the emotional weightage turns out to be more.

Pandiraj is very clear that he will not steer far out of the film’s space, and maintains his tempo to an extent, over the 150 minute runtime of the film. He ensures that there is enough space for Suriya the star and Suriya the actor, and even though the rest of the cast don’t have huge marks to make, they dont hamper the narrative at any point.

Suriya delivers an earnest, all-round performance once again in this smacking role that feels like an extension of what he did in Jai Bhim. The actor drives himself forward in a mass-centric role that is also a strong ode to women.

Supporting him well is Priyanka Arul Mohan who gets a solid role, which starts off in a fun fashion but then moves onto a serious zone. Vinay and Sathyaraj are actors who get bobbed down in very simple roles, which needed more shades. The rest of the cast including Ilavarasu, Devadarshini and Saranya Ponvannan are good.

Ratnavelu’s camerawork gives a classy outlook to this mass film, with Imman’s pounding score complementing the proceedings well with many good themes.

On the whole, Etharkum Thuninthavan is a fine mass entertainer that comes with a strong social message that entertains and educates. Suriya finally comes to the big screens with a solid entertainer.  Etharkum Thuninthavan Movie Review by Siddarth Srinivas

Etharkum Thuninthavan Movie Review Rating: 3.25/5