Debutant director Rohin Venkatesan’s ‘Adhey Kangal’ which has non-star actors in lead roles comes from C.V.Kumar’s Thirukumaran Entertainments, which has given many critically acclaimed hit films with newcomers as actors and directors. Will ‘Adhey Kangal’ live up to the legacy of the production house? Read the review.

Varun Murali (Kalaiyarasan) is a visually impaired Chef and runs a restaurant of his own. Sadhana (Janani) is a reporter in a famous Tamil weekly magazine and she is smitten by Varun.

Varun however falls in love with Deepa (Sshivada) who visits is restaurant a few times to buy food for destitute people. Deepa who reciprocates Varun’s feelings for her tells him that she and her father have to repay a big amount for a loan shark otherwise they will have to escape from him.

Varun comes forward to help her with money but suddenly meets with a road accident. In the accident he regains his eye sight but in the meanwhile Deepa goes missing.

The ensuing events leads Varun to Kanyakumari after knowing that a person who claimed to be Deepa’s father has been killed in a road accident.

Varun starts investigating the death with the help of the local constable Panju (Bala Saravanan).  How he solves the mystery surrounding Deepa and the death of her father forms the rest.

Writer-director Rohin Venkatesan deserves praise for presenting an engaging thriller with some neat twists. The narrative includes a few interconnecting sub plots and they have been presented without confusing the audience.  With the help of Bala Saravanan, good amount of humor has been inserted in a thriller script without spoiling the flow of the narration.

The first half gets predictable beyond a point and the lack of novel or interesting element makes the viewing a little tedious. But the second half lives up to the promise created by the twist in the interval.

The main twist of the story gets revealed in the mid-point of the second half but the way the remaining portions have been narrated with a surprising negative lead character makes it an enjoyable watch. The non-linear narration also helps big time to give some surprise moments for the audience here and there.

There are a few logic loopholes and cinematic liberties that cannot be overlooked in a thriller kind of a film as it is such things that take forward the story. A mobile service shop guy tracing the phone numbers of any mobile number and getting the details of incoming and outgoing calls could have been portrayed in a credible manner. Also some leads that come to help the hero cracking the case, like the car mechanics giving the details of their customers to a police constable without raising any questions are too easy to believe.

One also cannot help feeling that the film is little lengthy than required and the script could have been tighter.

But despite these flaws, ‘Adhey Kangal’ is definitely a pretty engaging decent thriller that can be watched by all.

Kalaiyarasan plays his role well and carries of the portions of a blind person with perfection. Sshivada gets to play a powerful character and she has given a brilliant performance. We wish that our Kollywood filmmakers recognize her talent and give her more such performance oriented roles.  Janani is adequate for her role and looks ravishing with well designed costumes. Bala Saravnaan comes up with yet another laudable performance with a humor based supporting character.

Ghibran’s songs are pleasing to listen. Using a theme song for the negative lead is a clever idea. Rerecording provides adequate support to the narrative.

Cinematographer Ravivarman Neelamegam’s rich visuals make the film a treat for the eyes. The Art director deserves special credit for novel indoor sets. Also the outdoor locations in both Chennai and Kanyakumari look refreshing on screen. Editor Leo John Paul has done a neat job.

Verdict- ‘Adhey Kangal’ is an engaging thriller with some neat twists. A trimmer first half and avoidance of some logic loopholes could have made much wonders. The surprise villain deserves a special credit.