Kolaigaran Movie Review
Production: Diya Movies Cast: Arjun Sarja, Ashima Narwal, Vijay Antony Direction: Andrew Louis Screenplay: Andrew Louis Story: Andrew Louis Music: Simon K King Background score: Simon K King Cinematography: Mukes Dialogues: Andrew Louis
Andrew Louis’ Kolaigaran starts as a whodunit thriller. A murder takes place, the victim’s face is seen clearly, her throat is slit and blood splatters. We know what we are set for. But one thing that is hard to understand is the inconsistencies in revealing information about the crime. A few details look unnecessary, while some look force-fitted to hide the surprise element. In spite of all this, the film has the potential to become a good thriller.
Kolaigaran opens with a murder. A woman has her throat slit by an unknown person and in the next scene, we see a man confessing to the crime. We later learn that this man is Prabhakaran (Vijay Antony, whose impassive face is perfectly suited to this role). The action shifts to a few days earlier. Karthikeyan (Arjun), a police officer, is called in to investigate the murder of an unidentified male. He soon finds out that the victim is Vamsi, the relative of a minister in Andhra Pradesh. And that he had been stalking Dharini (Ashima Narwal) and her mom. Karthikeyan suspects the mother and daughter, but Prabhakaran, who happens to be their neighbour, claims it is who has murdered Vamsi.
Director Andrew Louis has admitted that Kolaigaran is a loose adaptation of the Japanese crime novel The Devotion Of Suspect X. As in the novel, the central idea is about the successful cover-up of a murder by a clever man. This was also the theme in Jeetu Joseph’s Papanasam (and the Malayalam original Drishyam). Louis manages to come up with a solid thriller taking this idea, and turning the film into a battle of wits between a dogged cop and an intelligent man who might be more than what he appears to be. While Papanasam was also a family drama and was driven by emotions, here, Louis dives straight away into the investigation. Which is why the couple of songs that we get are massive mood-killers (though, they are hummable). And unlike Papanasam, where we knew who had committed the crime, this film is also a whodunit.
A section of audience might find Prabhakaran’s motive slightly unconvincing, but it isn’t much of a problem.
There are momentary highs at places, their consistency and sustainability is a question left unanswered. Nevertheless, the way in which Karthikeyan solves the crime and finds the killer is engaging and enjoyable at the same time. Comparing this film with a murder, it has enough stuff to strangle a victim but doesn’t bother to check if he/she is dead. On the whole, the short run time of less than 2 hours, and the director showing us various perspectives of the same murder works really well.
