Review Overview
Performances
Writing and Direction
Cinematography & BGM
Barely Engaging!
Irumbu Kuthirai is yet another proof that Tamil filmmakers gravely need script doctoring. An interesting premise around bike racing and bike riders is let down by a tawdry writing which eventually delivers joyless scenes on screen.
Cast: Atharvaa, Priya Anand, Johnny Try Nguyen, Raai Lakshmi, Jagan, Manobala & others
Cinematography: RB Gurudhev
Music: GV Prakash
Editing: TS Suresh
PRO: Nikkil Murugan
Written & Directed by: Yuvaraj Bose
Production: AGS Entertainment
Release Date: 29-08-2014
Run Time: 02:06:00
Irumbu Kuthirai is yet another proof that Tamil filmmakers gravely need script doctoring. An interesting premise around bike racing and bike riders is let down by a tawdry writing which eventually delivers joyless scenes on screen.
Irumbu Kuthirai had the potential to be an engaging ride right from the start, but the shoddy screenplay, poorly thought-out comedy scenes, disingenuous characters have let a golden opportunity to fly through the smoke. Everyone watched a glimpse of Atharvaa riding a superbike in the promos released earlier and it’s quite natural to expect a sincere portrayal of the character on screen. But, it never happened. Instead, we have been asked to sit through the love-story throughout the first half with tepid romantic scenes between Samyuktha (Priya Anand) and Prithvi (Atharvaa), where the former falls for the latter after experiencing a sun rise – which is her favorite – in close quarters in his company.
The romance scenes,which we are asked to invest in the first half of the film, are unstimulating and barely engage. Towards the end of the first half, we are shown, for the first time, what we’re promised in the before. When Prithvi and Samyuktha unwind on the busy east coast road, a group of bikers surround them, hit Prithvi and abduct Samyuktha. The reason behind this mysterious abduction and how Atharvaa brings back Samyuktha forms the rest of the story. The director also lets us know in the pre-interval block that Johhny Ngyuen – Dong Lee of Ezhaam Arivu – is the leader of the group of bikers who kidnapped Samyukatha.
There are few interesting scenes in the film – all related to the film’s theme. The pre-interval bike stunts are brilliantly staged and piqued created a fair amount of curiosity for the second half. And, then there is a neatly choereographed fight scene between Johnny and Atharvaa in the second half. Editor Suresh’s cuts and Gurudhev’s cinematography deserve a mention, especially for these two scenes. Had Yuvaraj taken earnest efforts to show audiences the reasons behind Atharvaa’s passion for racing, shown few scenes on how he’s become an avid biker, then the build-up to the grand finale would have seemed organic. But, instead Yuvaraj opts for the beaten-to-pulp template in structuring his story, which scarcely interests the audiences.
The film on the whole, appears soulless and obsolete with two or three guilty pleasures here and there. Priya Anand and Atharvaa Murali have done their roles well. Raai Lakshmi’s performance has a blemish in out of sync dubbing. GV Prakash’s score for the love situations appear good rather than the ones he used for the film’s crucial junctures.
Irumbu Kuthirai fails to deliver, thanks to the negligence of film’s theme and an abysmal writing.