Garudan : Flies high with solid performances

Popular Tamil comedian Soori, made a successful transition as a leading man in Vetrimaaran's  'Viduthalai'.  His sophomore project as a hero 'Garudan' has released in theaters carrying great expectations from fans.  Has Soori repeated the same magic remains to be seen .

'Garudan' is yet another Kollywood film  centered on friendship, love, betrayal, justice and loyalty in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. Aadhi (Sasikumar) , a well to -do businessman operating a fleet of trucks, is a childhood friend of Karuna (Unni Mukundan).   Karuna belongs to a zameen family but is neck deep in debts. Chokkan (Soori), an orphan, is a loyal henchman of Karuna who guards him like a watchdog right from their childhood.    Enter a wily politician played by R.V. Udayakumar who hatches a plan to steal a large piece of land belonging to the village temple.  The upright Aadhi stands in the way while the villains lure Karuna, tempting him with crores of money.  The issue causes an irreparable rift between the friends and also results in great tragedy.  Chokkan is caught in a moral dilemma whether to side with Aadhi and aide in the injustices or take the righteous path.   What happens next is what 'Garudan' is all about.

Soori is tentative in his performance in the initial scenes overshadowed by the other two stars.  He is also a tad uncomfortable in the romantic portions.  However he peaks in the interval scene and the raw action in the climax.  His best comes when blurting out the truth to Unni Mukundan especially in the jail scene in which he wreaks terror in the minds of the villains.  Sasikumar carries the majority of the film on his broad shoulders with his solid performance as the loyal friend who faces betrayal.  Unni Mukundan tries his best to stay afloat a weakly written character and succeeds to a certain extent.  He should be lauded for dubbing in his own voice with only a few glitches here and there. Sshivada has put in yet another convincing performance as Sasikumar's wife while Roshni Haripriyan is adequate as the greedy wife of Unni Mukundan.  Revathi Sharma is cute as the village girl in love with Chokkan although the vast age difference between her and Soori shows on screen.  Veteran director R.V. Udayakumar is brilliant as the scheming minister and provides some of the genuine laughs.  Samuthirakani appears as the cop through whose point of view the entire story is narrated.

What works best in 'Garudan' is that even though the screenplay is predictable it is fairly engaging throughout.  The switching of loyalty of Soori from Unni to Sasikumar family is brilliantly written and leads to the riveting climax.  The last thirty minutes of execution is what has guided the film to safety.

On the flipside apart from the predictable story, the major flaw is that the friendship between Unni and Sasikumar is on thin ice right from the beginning and hence there is no shock value when the former turns on the latter. Similarly the bonding between Soori and the Sasikumar family is better than his with Unni and hence his switch allegiance is a given.   There are lags in the pacing in the first as well as second half that could have been avoided with better writing.  The 'Kantara' touch robs the film of originality.

Yuvan Shankar Raja has satisfied the fans with his background music and the  Panchavarna Kiliye song. Arthur Wilson's camera has captured the arid regions of Theni, the gloom of the mountains in the love song, and the emotional sparks that fly between the three main characters in friendship as well as the betrayal.  The story is said to be based on Soori's own father's life that has been adapted to the screen in a fairly engaging manner.  Director Durai Senthil Kumar much like all his previous movies has shown flashes of brilliance let down by predictability.  The film is presented by Vetrimaaran.

Verdict : Go for this rural commercial flick backed by solid performances