Por Thozhil Movie Review

Ever since Vishnu Vishal’s Ratsasan came into the limelight, Tamil cinema has somewhat left out the investigation whodunit genre, fearing the fact that the product cannot match up to the film’s standards. But after quite a while, we finally have a film that comes close to Ratsasan in terms of actually delivering the chills to the audiences and throwing up surprises at regular intervals. Debutant director Vignesh Raja’s Por Thozhil, it is.

The film is about the search for a serial killer who has a different MO of strangling women through ropes, and causing havoc in the lives of the cops investigating the case. Instead of having one cop cracking the case, Por Thozhil has the combo of a veteran in Sarath Kumar and a rookie in Ashok Selvan together coming together to break down the details. The film takes it step by step and organizes a no-nonsense, pure genre thriller that does not deviate from the plot in any way and keeps us engaged with really good detailing, intense moments and twists that work well throughout.

Por Thozhil is not just a film that works through technical qualities and the performances of the cast, it is the writing here that clicks. Working with Alfred Prakash who is the co-writer, director Vignesh Raja has managed to present a film that is as compelling as it can be for the entirety of its runtime.

After getting typecast in supporting characters, it is so refreshing to see the veteran Sarathkumar in a role that gives him a lot of flesh and some mass too. It is so good to see the actor deliver a strong performance as the stylish and experienced cop. On the other hand is Ashok Selvan who delivers a solid performance in a film that demands him to grow slowly from a timid rookie cop to one who can roll up his sleeves and get the job done. The film also has a terrific support cast who all contribute their weight in gold.

Por Thozhil’s expertise is in how it just does not get into the minds of killer but also in how convincingly it moves into the minds of the cop too. The film slowly expresses its details in the first half, where it is easy to grasp the intensity of the situation, and then gets us emotionally attached to the film. The ending too, is not just limited to the finding of the killer, it has some more to it which you will realize after watching the film.

With very good technical factors such as Jakes Bejoy’s impressive work with the score, Por Thozhil works out superbly as a tense thriller that keeps giving us something to cheer for until the end. This is a must watch in theatres for fans of the genre.  Por Thozhil Movie Review by Siddarth Srinivas

Por Thozhil Movie Review Rating: 3.75/5