Sivakasi Review

Arjun has won a name for himself as a toughie hero. So it is only natural for him to live up to this image. In this film, which he has also directed, he goes for the metaphorical jugular as bullets are pumped and blood oozes out in sickening profusion.

The pity is the fact that the film has a decent storyline. If only the director had managed to weave a decent script and diffused the violence, Sivakasi could have been a Tarantino kind of film (raw violence but with reason). The director in fact has done a good job in fleshing out the underside of Mumbai (its slums and its gangsters).

The story is about two friends who lose and find themselves amid the welter of gang wars and personal greed.

Kasi (Arjun) sets out to Mumbai in search of the killers of his parents. He finds two of the three, and finishes them. A don appreciates his daring and audacity and he is quickly enlisted by the bhai. Elsewhere, there is Siva (Jagapathi), he is part of another gang.

Meanwhile, Kasi, who helps Anjali (Vedika) and her family, falls in love with her. Siva has a thing going with Meena (Gajala). The ganglords end up killing Siva's brother and Kasi's lover.

When Siva and Kasi come face to face, they realize they had been together in the prison before they had come to Mumbai. But still continue to have a go at each other

But in time, the duo resolve their differences of working for rival gangs and set out on the tracks of their common enemy.

For Arjun, it is a simple role. He has to sport a deadpan expression and go bang-bang. Jagapathi Babu, looking violent and mean, has come up with a very good performance. He fleshes out the different shades of his character very intelligently. In this macho movie, the girls, Vedika and Gajala, have nothing much to do. Sunil's comedy works in places.

The music of Imman is loud and has very little in terms of either mass song or melody. The camera work and the art deserve a special mention as Mumbai has been splendidly captured.

Arjun, as a director, knows what to give. But if only he had known how to moderate, Sivakasi could have benefited.