Taanakkaran - A  riveting and authentic depiction of the police system 

There can be very few Tamil films in history that do not have the character of a cop in it either glorifying or vilifying them.  Tamizh, a cop turned filmmaker has come up with 'Taanakkaran' that shows the harsh realities of police training.  Will this intense film strike a chord with the audiences remains to be seen.

The film opens at the police training academy where Arivu (Vikram Prabhu) who holds a master degree in criminology is a candidate.  Surprisingly there are those who are above forty who were recruited decades ago and not instated due to political reasons and.  The trainer Eswaramuthy (Lal) has the reputation of being a ruthless man who caused the death of eighteen trainees by his brutal methods.  There is also Chellaiya (M.S. Bhaskar) who is also one of the junior trainers on punishment for assaulting a senior official.  The rules are spelt out to the trainees that they have to abide by what the officials say failing which they will be thrown out.  Arivu questions some of the unjust behaviours which put him at direct confrontation with Eswaramurthy and the senior officials who support him.  The powerful join hands and use the system to prevent Arivu and the other deserving candidates from becoming police officers.   Whether they are able to withstand insurmountable challenges and win the game or not is what the film is all about on the surface level with more layers in the screenplay.

Arivu is probably one of the best characters that Vikram Prabhu has got in his career and he has done full justice to the role.  He has undergone the exact training that policemen do and his physical toil matches his emotional performance in all the scenes.  Anjali Nair plays a constable in love with the hero and is a pleasant distraction in the otherwise intense film.  M.S. Bhaskar is terrific as the wronged cop who faces humiliation at the hands of his own colleagues.  After a long time Lal gets a role in Tamil that not only suits him to the T but also gives him enough material to parade as cruelity personified.  Bose Venkat as the honest officer, Madhusudhan Rao as the corrupt one, Cable Shankar as Murugan and Paval Navageethan as the hero's friend all give memorable performances due to the strong characterizations.  The actor who plays Chithappa moves the audience with his excellent performance.

'Taanakkaran' reveals many unknown facets of police training which are all eye opening to say the least.   At the very opening itself it makes its point clear by showing the redundancy of the police training procedures that were implemented by the Britishers solely to brainwash Indians to serve them against their own countrymen.   The brutalities both physical and psychological are captured very effectively.  All the characters are well written and fit into the plot like a jigsaw puzzle.  Those watching the film will understand why most of the policemen seem to be inhumane and how corruption is instilled in them during training itself.  One of the lines that goes "This system is the child of a heartless foreigner and a brainless politician" sums it all up in a nutshell.

On the downside there are a few scenes that are staged amateurishly.  This is one film that screams for rawness in storytelling but the maker has leaned on the cinematic side that is a little off putting.   

Ghibran's background score as usual does the job of elevating the scenes and the one duet song pleases both the ears and the eyes.   Madhesh Manickam's cinematography captures every leg moment in complicated parades as well as the brutality of the men and their confinement with telling effect.  Philomin Raj's editing provides the needed impetus to the movement of the screenplay.  Potential Studios which is on a mission to bring meaningful cinema to Tamil audiences has done it again.  Tamizh better known as the ruthless cop Gurumurthy in 'Jai Bhim' has made a highly authentic film deciphering the very DNA of the average Indian cop.  He has made the film with a lot of intensity and keeps the audience engrossed with his focussed screenplay.

Verdict : Go for this never before seen true life cop movie that is engrossing as well as educative.