Jayam Ravi is one actor who can successfully juggle commercial and content-oriented films with equal expertise. His last release Tik Tik Tik, with director Shakti Soundar Rajan, was a hit venture, even though a few critics were unimpressed by its far-fetched story.
Now, the actor is back with a commercial cop thriller, which has a much-needed message for the current-day society. This Karthik Thangavel-directed film is about emotional police official Subash (Jayam Ravi) who is a know-it-all when it comes to technology. So much so, that he is never at fault.
Subhash is new to his job and all he gets to hear is to ‘obey orders’. Clearly, he’s cut out from the crowd and wants to punish those who commit crimes. One day, a girl is found dead under mysterious circumstances and Subash comes close to nabbing the criminals. This particular case turns his life upside down and takes the story forward.
Karthik Thangavel’s Adanga Maru has many underlying messages about corrupt police officials, spoilt rich brats taking everything for granted and the punishment for them. Sometimes, these messages hit you on the face and sometimes they are subtle.
In a scene, a middle-aged person registers a police complaint requesting them to find his missing dog which belongs to a rare breed. Ironically, he is not worried about the dog’s safety; instead, he fears that his dog might get cosy around local breeds.
The core premise of Adanga Maru is about the injustice meted out to women by lustful men and how the system watches them suffer. Taking up a relevant issue, Karthik Thangavel has etched a gripping tale which sometimes goes overboard.
For example, Jayam Ravi’s character is never at fault and he is always one step ahead of the police and villains. In another scene, the villains happily point a gun at Subash inside the court premises. In such scenes, logic takes a backseat and you have to wait for them to pass.
When it comes to cop roles, Ravi’s character in Thani Oruvan comes to mind. Though Subash in Adanga Maru is as intelligent as Mithran in Thani Oruvan, the former is shown as a man who can never go wrong in his life. But Ravi throws in an earnest performance and looks extremely convincing as an upright cop.
Like many other films, Ravi owns the film and other characters around him are just mere spectators, just like us. Be it Subash’s family or his girlfriend Anitha (Raashi Khanna), they do not have a substantial role. Instead, they are just supporting actors who are needed for just a scene or two.
Composer Sam CS’s background score is a huge plus to the film as it elevates the most important scenes.
Debutant director Karthik Thangavel’s Adanga Maru starring Jayam Ravi could have been a flawless cop thriller, but it misses the mark by a few inches, says our review.
[“source-indiatoday”]
