ET (Evariki Thalavanchadu) Review

The Tamil movie 'Etharkkum Thunindhavan' has been released today in Telugu (dubbed) and Tamil simultaneously. Titled 'ET' in Telugu, it is produced by Sun Pictures. In this section, we are going to review the latest BO release.

Story:

The film opens with Krishna Mohan (Suriya), the son of a village headman (Sathyaraj) and Saranya Ponvannan, murdering seven people in cold blood.  As the police go after him, flashbacks show that he is a lawyer who especially takes up for female victims of sexual crimes.  

A rich man (Vinay Rai) belonging to the rival village of the male lead along with his henchmen openly brutalizes women through sex crimes, blackmail and murder. Meanwhile, the hero falls in love with a beautiful girl (Priyanka Arul Mohan) and marries her.  

In the hero's fight against a cruel nexus, his own family is affected in the most shocking manner and how he gets justice for all is what the story is all about.

Analysis:

After playing a classy role in 'Aakasam Nee Haddhu Raa' and a restrained lawyer in 'Jai Bhim', Suriya has played a macho muscleman whose gumption terrorizes the baddies. His acting is the biggest asset of this otherwise formulaic movie. 'Gang Leader' and 'Sreekaram' actress Priyanka Arul Mohan is very average. She was super cool in last year's Tamil blockbuster 'Doctor', but not so here. Supporting artiste Sathyaraj's performance is rich in Kollywood texture. Vinay Rai is better than others like Soori, Saranya Ponvannan. The film also features Ciby Bhuvana Chandran, MS Baskar and Devadharshini. Jayaprakash, Madhusudhan Rao, Rajkiran, Hareesh Peradi, and others have different roles.

D Imman is what happens when Anup Rubens meets SS Thaman on a boisterous day. If you know that he has previously composed music for films like Rajinikanth's 'Annaatthe' and Ajith's 'Viswasam', you will know what kind of music to expect from 'ET'. The BGM is typical, again. R Rathnavelu of 'Rangasthalam' and '1: Nenokkadine' fame has given the best possible outcome with respect to cinematography. Ruben's editing is apt.

Pandiraj's previous action drama 'Kadaikutty Singam' remains the most noted semi-family drama as well. For the unversed, this film is based on the infamous Pollachi sex scandal that took place years ago.

The staging of the scenes is pretty outdated. The rom-com track features silly comedy that works only to an extent. Not many among the Telugu audience would like to watch Suriya in a role that oscillates between idiosyncratic characterization and out-and-out bloodletting role. The song 'Sakhuda' where we see the lead pair behave like angels is out of sync.

This is a film where sudden conspiracies are juxtaposed with 'Peechu Mithai' comedy and all. Light scenes are intercut and we see gory frames of a woman getting brutalized somewhere. Everything is unsettling in the first half.

The dialogues, too, smack of old ideas. The reference to the heroine as a loudspeaker and other lines don't work. The heroine is shown to be a devotee of Subrahmanya Swamy and it adds a texture to her characterization. Such additions are welcome but not when not much is leveraged. The scene where Suriya explains the SOS-friendly apps for women is welcome. It shows that the actor and his director are truly sincere in the film's message.

The characters are stock ones. There is an insensitive, compromised cop. There is a megalomaniac villain, etc. The doting mother trope is overdone. Lines like "I am not a criminal lawyer but a criminals' lawyer" were supposed to hit home like punchlines? Or, was there something more in the director's mind?

Satyaraj's comedy doesn't work beyond a point. He plays the kind of patriarch who relies on CCTV footage at home more than what most cops in pseudo-thrillers do at the workplace. Enough said.

Verdict:

'ET' goes for a toss. The first half is barely watchable. The second half, too, fails to redeem the movie.