Irumbu Thirai - Reality check

Vishal has produced and acted as the protagonist in this new age cyber thriller that speaks in layman terms how the common man's data can be stolen and used against him by the modern criminal.  Debutante director P. Mithran has done extensive research on the modus operandi of the cyber villains and has given a fairly engaging thriller.

Major Kathiravan (Vishal) an army man who has a haunting past wants to leave the country and settle abroad.  He has anger issues and is assigned to a psychiatrist Rathi Devi (Samantha) who as therapy asks him to go to his village and reconcile with his dad ( Delhi Ganesh) and younger sister. The younger sister is in love with a rich man whose parents demand ten lakhs worth of jewellery and the hero and his father try to procure a loan but are turned down by all the banks.  An agent offers to help them in getting a loan from a popular bank and they get the loan but the money disappears from the account and they cannot go to the police as the documents are forged.  Vishal sets out to find the cyber criminal who is known as White Devil (Arjun).  The cat and mouse game between the two forms the rest of the screenplay.

The tall and well built Vishal has no problems convincing the viewer of his army background and needless to say that he excels in the fight scenes, especially the climax encounter with Arjun.  He scores in the emotional department too when he bursts out to his father Delhi Ganesh accusing him of spoiling his life.  Action King Arjun as the sauve and tech savvy villain Sathyamoorthy aka White Devil approaches his role with subtlety and his minute expressions add color to the character.  His punch line that he is the scorpion and all his victims are thieves is received by thunderous applause and Yuvan Shankar Raja does his bit by composing a killer theme for him. Samantha is an eyeful as the psychiatrist Rathi Devi and she too gets her mass moment when she leads the villains into a trap set by the hero.  Robo Shankar's comedy musters a smile most of the time and we can say welcome back Delhi Ganesh for yet another standout performance.  Kaali Venkat, Vincent Asokan and Madhusoodhanan are also in the cast along with a few YouTube stars who are uniformly good.

The detailing that has gone into exposing the data thefts is commendable and the idea that what  if the Aadhar card details get into the wrong hands is really scary (Will also get some free publicity for the film!).  The scene when the heroes friends from the military join in an operation to trap the criminals is exciting.  The backstory of the hero helps in driving the entire screenplay.

On the downside the mandatory love scenes for the hero is a speed breaker and the second half has more talking heads than action.  The writer director has not given the same concentration on making the screenplay more interesting which he has devoted to the detailing done for the cyber theft. There are also a few nagging logical loopholes in the back procedures and their networks.

The background music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is perfectly in sync with the digital theme though the songs have a familiar ring to them. Cinematography, editing  and the art direction are top notch.  P.S. Mithran has made a strong debut with a subject that will connect to many though the screenplay is not all that racy.

Verdict : Go for this new age thriller that will serve as a reality check for yourselves in this digital age.