Alangu Review : Well crafted socio political thriller that bats for animal rights
The past decade or so has seen a bunch of newcomers in Tamil cinema who have infused freshness and novelty not only in their screenplays but also in the making. The latest addition to this is 'Alangu' touted as a Man vs Dog saga but tries to deal with even deeper themes. Lets take a look to see if this well crafted film will create the desired impact on the audiences.
The story of 'Alangu' is set in the Tamil Nadu - Kerala border and follows two men with contrasting ideologies. On the one hand there is Augustine (Chemban Vinod) for whom his daughter is his entire world. On the other side of the spectrum there is the youngster Dharman (Gunanidhi) , a tribal man who believes that all life on planet earth are equal. Augustine orders the ruthless killing of dogs in the town. Why he does that and what happens when the killings make the meek Dharman go against the powerful don is what the rest of the screenplay of 'Alangu' is all about.
Debutant actor Gunanidhi gets to play the meaty role of Dharman the underprivileged hill tribes man, He is pretty natural in the scenes he is forced to quit college and go for menial labour in Kerala. He is particularly effective when saving the dog (Kaali) from the villain and suffering near death to save her. Appani Sarath is terrific as the ruthless henchman of the villain who will kill men or dogs with an evil delight in his eyes. Chemban Vinod pulls off the role of a doting father who is also a dreaded gangster. Kaali Venkat as usual scores as the loving uncle of the hero whilst Srirekha steals the show as the iron willed mother who gives the villains her own special fireworks treatment in the end.
What works well in 'Alangu' is the entire first half that is filled with fresh scenes right from establishing the love of Chemban's character to his little daughter to Dharman rescuing a poisoned dog and adopting it. It is heartwarming to see Kaali becoming one of the members of Dharman's tribal home along with his mother and younger sister. The film then goes on thriller mode with the dog's killings and also strong political statements are made about the discrimination that Dharman and his clan face in society. The hero equating the fate of the hunted dog and himself does reflect the true scenarios in several places in the world leave alone the Western Ghats. The pre climax scene (it should have been the climax but lo) where the fiery mother helps her badly beaten up son and his friends face off with Sharath Appani and his gang is simply mind blowing. Most of the stunt sequences are well choreographed as well.
On the downside the film loses track of its goal and its geography post the intermission and repetitive scenes of the good guys escaping from the bad ones in the forest follow one after the other. There are also some ridiculous computer generated snakes and wolves that tarnish the overall good work.
On the technical side Pandikumar's camera has beautifully captured the differences in the backdrops of Kerala and Tamil Nadu side by side. His lens work is exemplary in the raw and bone crunching action sequences. Aziz's background music is one of the big strengths of the film. Alangu has brought back attention to Aziz who rendered the cult classic 'Idhuvarai' song from the film 'Goa'. Politician Sangamithra Sowmiya Anbumani has produced the film along with D. Sabareesh.
Director Sakthivel has written the screenplay out of various contemporary issues such as the waste dumped by Kerala inside Tamil Nadu borders. the bureaucracy that mocks the hill people; and the atrocities faced by people working in the forests of Kerala. The theme that nature itself creates some paths for a person who wants to live 'for the sake of all life' is novel but sadly not fully realized in the film. 'Alangu' also underlines the fact that humans should now view the world as their own and treat animal life casually.
Verdict : Go for this well crafted thought provoking socio political thriller
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