Thani Oruvan

It was a time when Mysore Sandal and Pears were considered ‘premium’. Maruti 800 was the car we aspired to own. And that’s when Arvind Swamy wooed us amidst all the ‘pudhu vellai mazhai’. Overnight, he was the man women fancied. Premium, with a capital P. Mouna Raagam’s Karthik was displaced, like yesterday’s leftover rasa vandi. The man was all class. His voice was smooth and sharp, at the same time. Like the fictional but unforgettable Hattori Hanzo sword. His Tamil pronunciation was right. He spoke English with finesse. No one cared if he could flex his muscles or flaunt a six pack.

And then, he left. But every film of his was cherishable. We never stopped admiring him. Never was he forgotten. Remote controls paused when the random 24 hour music channel played Kaadhal Rojave… Engae nee engae.

I don’t watch many movies. I watch maaaaybe 2 movies a year. On a good year, that is. And recently, I vowed to change that. So, I caught Thani Oruvan recently. And I fell for Arvind Swamy hook, line and sinker. I focussed on little else.

The film joins a long list of ‘could have beens’. The story is awesome. Awesome, not just for a Tamil movie, as people tend to say when they describe Thani Oruvan. It doesn’t look plagiarised. A brilliant antagonist who doesn’t like getting his hands dirty is something we rarely see in Tamil Cinema. The last time I liked the antagonist in a Tamil film was in Udhiri Pookkal.

A classy man on screen is awesome. We have seen the Sanjay Ramaswamys. A classy man with a past in Chennai slums, a scientist who understands the intricacies of local politics and power struggles is beyond awesome. Arvind Swamy as Siddharth Abhimanyu doesn’t throw his shirt off and get into fist fights. He doesn’t dance to masala numbers with his girlfriend. He spends his time in a lab! And gets people assassinated with the press of a few cellphone buttons. I decided to like the movie in the first ten minutes, when a young Palani (yet to become the Joker of his Gotham) discusses political leverage and loopholes in juvenile delinquency laws.  

The intelligently woven story makes up for the goofs- the protagonist dabbles with vigilante justice before becoming an IPS officer. The firang lady who’s thrown a stunning welcome is referred with her first name alone. Ravi struggles to pronounce names right. Jayam Ravi’s Mithran is revered a tad too much by his batch mates. And worst of all, in this day when women’s emancipation is to be handled responsibly, the director falls into Tamil masala formula. It irks us when Mahima(Nayantara) clears her civil service examinations and then gives it up because of love gone sour. Enna kodumai? Formula wise, Nayantara in uniform would have been a stunner, Raja! And don’t even get me started on the ‘righteous’ hero doling out advice to the female lead on kulchur.

Tamil Cinema is stuck on their women and men playing hard to get. Thani Oruvan is no exception. And Mithran ‘realising’ his love for Mahima is baseless. Nevertheless, the film redeems itself with Mithran professing his love with a whiteboard and marker. Oh yes, it’s a Tamil padam and it’s an unwritten rule that the scene has to be followed by a song set in scenic tropical islands with fluttering duppatas.

Jayam Ravi is almost alright, for the role. He’s no Anbuselvan IPS. Mithran, the cop who knows it all and does everything right has the voice of a cornered mouse. Recently, I watched one of Ajit’s initial attempts at acting- Aval Varuvaala. I guess the movie was a hit because of Simran’s hotness factor. ( Remember the racy number ‘Jannal veccha jacket podavaa’?). Anyhow, Ajit’s voice back then is weird. Reminds you of castrated choir boys. Fast forward to Yennai Arindhaal: Satyadev IPS is the whole package. His voice is perfect for the role he essays. In stark contrast is the voice of Arvind Swamy. You actually sit up and take notice when he utters words and phrases like ‘Imbecile’, ‘Love at first sight, kill at first betrayal’. The man’s Tamil uccharippu is a major turn on! 

You could argue that the ‘hero’ himself gets only secondary screen presence and that it is only natural that his sidekicks get less than that. But why get a bunch of hotter-than-Ravi dudes like Ganesh Venkatraman and waste them?

Another gem in the movie is Thambi Ramaiah who plays the Siddharth Abhimanyu’s Supandi-ish father.  Overall, I am happy I watched the movie. And would love to watch it again. Minus the lame punch dialogues like, ‘un edhiri yaar endru sol, nee yaar endru solgiraen’, Mithran’s righteous-snob dialogues, the film would have been much, much better. And the script strays far from reality when it shows IPS officers taking a personal interest in felling individuals. Vigilante justice sheathed in uniform?

What stays in my mind, long after watching the movie is Arvind Swamy going to the CM and turning the tables with an Ennamma ippadi pannreengalae maa. Splendid!