Thupparivaalan Review

Cast: Vishal, Vinay, Prasanna, Andrea

Music: Arrol Corelli

Direction: Mysskin

Thupparivaalan (Detective) is directed by Mysskin and Vishal plays a Sherlock Holmes type detective named Kaniyan Poongundran (an ancient Tamil poet). He wakes up from his bed, runs around his house frantically blaming lack of case to solve. An old woman comes to complain about her lost husband, to which Kaniyan answers in a way Sherlock would. You will get a few more Sherlock references but let’s set aside the fact that Kaniyan resembles Sherlock as Vishal has pulled off his role brilliantly and there are many things to concentrate.

In the first scene a lightning kills a father and son, later a police officer gets killed by stroke and a small kid meets kaniyan complaining that someone has killed his pet dog. The wonderful narration ties all these unrelated scenes making it an interesting tale to watch. All these small knots tie as a big knot which is later loosened by Kaniyan. When kid complains about the killed dog, the scene reminded me of Onayum Aatukutiyum Scene where Mysskin narrates a story.

Kaniyan get a case from a father (Thalaivasal Vijay) about her lost daughter. He is ready to give him a blank cheque for the mission. But Kaniyan refuses to take up the case because the father wants her daughter for honor killing, which we come to know when he tells his companion Mano (Prasanna). So Kaniyan is not a callous person and this is evident in another scene where he watches Andrea escape as he saw a suicide. Later a few scenes also conveys the same.

Mallika (Anu Emmanual) is a pickpocket who steals money from Mano, which Kaniyan appreciates as magic of theft. Mallika’s is short yet important role. The relationship between Kaniyan and Mallika is beautifully pictured in two scenes, one when he pushes her, she smiles and other is when he kisses her hand. Vinay (named Devil), playing antagonist for first time is good but less compared to Mysskin’s previous antagonists. When Bhagyaraj appears on screen, it took me a few seconds to recognize him. I personally loved the scene where Bhagyaraj crawls and does one thing(check that in the movie).

Arrol Corelli’s music with super cool realistic stunts are a visual treat. I love the fight where Kaniyan plays Mouth organ and fights 4 guys. The Chinese restaurant fight is madness. The background music especially violin along with mind blowing cinematography makes a simple scene look elegant.

Verdict: A well made detective film.