The wind blows through his hair, the camera moves in for a close-up as his eyes open wide, his fists clench, his head tilts slightly to the side and in slow motion he lays out his punch directly to the gut, the opponent flys back 10 feet, but firstly spins in the air aboutn 5 times. And then it’s repeated again with the next 9 opponents? Sound cheesy? Sound clichéd?Well it is, but it’s still damn entertaining. Masala folks, there ain’t anything like it!
On paper, THAMBI sounds as clichéd as movies get, and in some ways it is, however what sets the movie apart and makes it one entertaining watch is Madhavans mass appealing, hard-hitting, power-packed “overman” performance which is a complete change from his romantic roles.
The movie revolves around Thambi(Madhavan)-a angry young man who stands up against any injustice that happens in society in everyday life. He takes on the might of a local don Sankara Pandian(Biju Menon) who unleashes mayhem in the city. The mere sight of Thambi sends Sankaras men running and sends shivers down his spine. Thambis aim is not to kill Sankara and his gang, but to make him see the light and give up his evil ways. Theres also Archana(Pooja) who initially mistakes Thambi to be just another “rowdy” but after she knows what he is all about she falls in love with him. So how did Thambi become what he is? Via a flashback we learn that Thambis entire family was killed by Sankara Pandian and his men after Thambi becomes a witness to a murder and sends Sankaras brother(Shanmuga Rajeshwaran) to jail. In order to hain political popularity, Sankara causes riots in the city and Thambi turns up just in time in order to try and prevent the disaster. What happens next? THAMBI provides the answers.
In terms of a story the movie sounds like every other “one man army” masala film made. From the structure of the story to the characterisation, everything has been witnessed thousands of times before. So what sets THAMBI apart? Well at the centre of what appears to be a run-of-the-mill story is a social message which gets across loud and clear. Thambi isn’t after revenge nor is this a tale of vendetta. Thambis main aim is to reform those that do wrong, and make them see the aftermath of what one murder can do. Even the man that murders his family, he doesn’t kill in revenge, but offers him a chance to redeem himself. Every “goonda” and “rowdy” he beats the living daylights of, he first tries to talk them out of the wrong that they are about to commit, and if they don’t listen, then he lets his fists do the talking. Heck, he even takes a murderer to the funeral of one of the people he just killed so that the murderer can see what the impact is of his actions. The screenplay too is clichéd, but tight and flows smoothly keeping the viewer entertained.
Right at the start credits, director Seeman has made it clear, that the movie is about “action” and “impact” and there it gives a clear indication that this isn’t just another action film for the sake of cementing a superstars status as he smacks the living daylight out of ten people at once. But director Seeman isn’t here to preach, hence the movie is saturated in the most accessible masala format-and the movie is one fine masala movie at that. The director understands the simple steps of making a crowd-pleasing, “seeti taali” film and doesn’t let the viewer down in that retrospect as the film is laced with some thumping and racy action sequences as well as crowd-pleasing and mass appealing dialogues. The central theme in the movie even gives a slight nod to Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehras outstanding RANG DE BASANTI, but a distant nod is as far as it goes as the point of this movie is very different.
The biggest piece of masala as such is Madhavans performance. The overman, larger-than-life role of Thambi is one that is usually reserved for the likes of apna Thalivar Rajnikanth, Cheeyan Vikram, or in Hindi Shahenshah Amitabh Bachchan. Before I go into Madhavans performance, I want to go over the basic aspects which make a masala performance of this nature succeed. Firsly the “hero” should be a true “hero” in every sense; fearless, so powerful that he can take on more than ten men at once, such is his strength that one punch can send these men hurdling ten metres across the screen, yet believable that when his punch lands on the “baddies” face or stomach the viewer is CONVINCED that the “hero” in front of them is capable of doing this, and once it happens, evokes a rush of adrenalin that you want to clap and whistle at once. So given this basic criteria, does Madhavan succeed? YES! He slips into the whole mould hand in glove and delivers one VERY entertaining performance. Those wide roving eyes, the tilted head, the long mane with the wind blowing through it, and not to forget the thumping dialogues. The actor excels on every front and totally impresses. The scene which left me gape faced and bowled me over was Madhavans speech at the award ceremony. This kind of monologue, non-stop dialogue delivery with a hard-hitting message is one that usually needs a equal “star”to be able to pull it off in the truest sense and to give Madhavan his biggest compliment he does. As the “hero” in the film delivers the lines, the viewer too is compelled to join in with the claps and whistles as he valiantly walks away after his speech, and no..Mani Ratnam this ain’t, though the scene does have a rather crowd-pleasing and mesmerising effect.
The rest of the cast fits around Madhavan quiet well. Pooja who plays his love interest is cute and looks really pretty on-screen as well as making a nice pair with Madhavan.
Vadivelu does his comic part well enough, however he failed to raise some “real” laughs like I’ve seen him do in other films. Biju Menon plays his part extremely well, and excels towards the scenes before the climax. Mani Vannan is effective in his short role as a socialist.
Vidyasagars music is great, and the songs are a treat to the ears as well as being superbly picturised. The song at the start which introduces Madhavans character is great at giving the viewer an introduction as to whats going to follow.
Technically too the movie is a slick product. Balusubhramanyams camerawork is very techno-savvy with some wicked camera angles and slickly edited shots. The stunning locales too have been beautifully captured like a beautiful portrait.
The action sequences in the movie are outstanding, yes over-the-top completely yet in sync with the genre of the movie. The fight scenes are a treat to watch and Madhavan pulls them off with utmost conviction with the right amount of style and panache as well as hammerstrong impact.
Rocket science it ain’t. Infact, the movie doesn’t have anything new to offer the viewer as far as the story goes, yet THAMBI is one very entertaining masala film with a relevant social message and one very pulse-pounding and impactful performance by Madhavan for alone which the movie is a must-see!
Overall Rating=7.2/10.0
A.Shah
Pictures courtesy of Indiaglitz.com
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