Quick Review: Kolaigaran
By Rinku Gupta
Produced by Diya Movies and released by G Dhananjayan’s Bofta
Mediaworks, Kolaigaran is the second film of director AndrewLouis and stars
Arjun Sarja and Vijay Antony in the lead
roles along with newbie Ashima Narwal and veteran actor Seetha, playing her
mother. Nasser and Bagavathy Perumal play cops.
A psychological crime thriller, Andrew has borrowed the basic knot
from The Devotion of Suspect X and has skillfully
added elements to suit local sensibilities.
The story revolves around a murder which grabs cop
Karthikeyan's( Arjun) attention. He zeroes in on suspects Dharini ( Ashima Narwal) and her
mother (Seetha) and his investigations lead him to their neighbour Prabhakaran
( Vijay Antony). He feels that somehow the three are linked with the murder but is
unable to pin the crime on them with certainty. Just as he is discussing the case with
his to senior ( Nasser), clues falls into place and twists emerge that take the
case forward to unchartered territory. Its all mind games someone is playing
with the cops and Karthikeyan has to decode the clues. Does he succeed?
With a crisp run time of
110 minutes, Andrew Lewis had delivered a top-notch thriller which will keep
your eyes glued to the screen and wits focused on the dialogues. Style and
substance both are on display all through in a movie that makes the viewer think without being just a spectator. Nothing is in your face and Andrew 's trademark is subtlety. An expression here and and eye movement there are all it takes to rev up the drama. The pace is crisp with
no distractions, save 2 well picturised songs out of which, one has a bearing on the story.
Aided by Simon K King’s superb BGM and cameraman Mukes’ tight
frames (which catch the subtlest eye movements), color codes of earthy tones of
reds and browns along with melancholy blues ( Prabhakaran’s flat, reflecting his
state of mind?) and Richard Kevin’s
crisp editing, Andrew Lewis has pulled out of his hat, a slick, sophisticated and tight thriller at
the core of which is an emotional connect.
The film’s strength lies
in its superb casting, minimal dialogues and no frills story telling. Arjun
Sarja in a towering performance portrays the thinking cop to perfection and its
hard to imagine anyone else doing justice to this role. Vijay Antony knows his
strengths and limitations in equal measure and uses them skillfully to
advantage to display just the right
measure of mystery, angst and emotions. In one emotional scene with Ashima, the
duo manage to touch a chord with their performance. There is a particularly orchestrated
stunt scene set to the strains of music and lyrics of Andavaney Thunaiyai which
was almost stunts with visual poetry in motion.
Nasser’s role is
crafted with a toned down voice and
subtle expressions and the dialogues between him and Arjun make for a rivetting watch. I liked the
choice of locations, vast melancholic spaces where the crime takes place, pleasantly decorated apartments, the cops sharing a meal in a small restaurant or at a scenic park as they discuss the
case … all very casual and real, which show the director’s penchant for
detailing. When the villain comes from
Hyderabad, he even swears in anger in Telugu, showing Andrew’s efforts to keep
things real. The sound department
deserves special mention.
A tad slow to pick up, but once it gathers
steam, the story moves at a steady pace with twists and turns at every step.
Kolaigaran , clearly a film top on the list of well
made crime thrillers in Tamil. 
