By Vivek Ramz

Director Vijay has a certain talent, that most directors don't. You may call his works 'inspired' or 'stealing', but he always does it beautifully in his own style that's high on emotions. And Vijay has proved it once again with UTV Motion Pictures' 'Thaandavam'. It promises clean entertainment and delivers it in most parts.

What's it about?
The film starts with a bomb blast at London. One year later, Kenny Thomas (Vikram) a blind man is on a killing spree. Meanwhile, Sara Vinayagam (Amy Jackson) a beauty peagent winner meets Kenny and slowly starts falling in love with him. Kenny is not interested as he is already married to Meenakshi (Anushka Shetty). The story moves to Tamil Nadu and then to Delhi. We find out that Kenny's original name is Shivakumar and he is a top intelligence officer from RAW. His friend and collegaue Sarath (Jagapathy Babu) investigates a very serious case involving a terrorist who plans to blow up the city with a new explosive device. Sarath is shot during a chase and Shiva takes over the case and comes to London in search of the flowchart. But he gets trapped in the London serial blasts by the terrorists and also loses his eyesight. The rest of the story revolves around finding out who is really behind the trap and how he gets revenge against them using a technique called Echolocation (detecting nearby objects through sounds)

Understanding that action was never his forte, AL Vijay kept the stunts slick and minimal and concentrated more on melodrama. Also, he deserves a pat on his back for coming up with a new concept of Echolocation and keeps the viewers intrigued for the initial part of the film. Vijay has once again proved that he is good at inducing subtle humour in the script without affecting the flow. The village sequences and conversations between Vikram and Anushka are easily the best part of the movie. The director has intelligently included all the necessary commercial elements in a revenge flick and made it work despite few flaws in the script.

Vikram has given one of his best performances to date. His powerful eyes ooze fury and well-toned physique adds credibility to the character of the blind Kenny. Also, he has done a neat job as RAW agent Shivakumar. Amy Jackson has done her part well, but it's Anushka who has given a solid performance as the caring wife Meenakshi. Vikram and Anushka are at ease performing with each other as they come together again after 'Deivathirumagal'. Jagapathi Babu has given good support to the film, especially in the second half. Lakshmi Rai as mystery woman is apt and so is Nasser as Veerakathi. Thambi Ramaiah & MS Bhaskar make their presences felt even if they appear only in a few sequences. Santhanam is clearly miscast and included just for the sake of few laughs and his character is the only that lacks strength, in an otherwise super cast.

Technically, 'Thaandavam' is one of the best films to hit the screen in recent times. Nirav Shah's camerawork is spellbinding, his beautiful cinematography has taken the film several notches higher. G.V.Prakash has put in extra effort in providing music and his hard work is evident in the background music. Songs are also good, with the catchy ‘Yaaradi’ at the start and few melodies in the later part of the film. Anthony's editing is top notch and his scissors have been put to good use, especially in the scene where Vikram tries to get the flowchart. Action choreography provides a good effect. The only drawback is in the CGI department, whose work is less than ordinary and it can be evidently seen in the initial bomb blast scenes which look very artificial.

The film moves very slow in the first half and is predictable at most parts. Also the logic goes for a toss in many scenes. If the director had taken care of these things, it would have been a perfect entertainer. But despite the minor flaws in the script and lags in screenplay, the film works because of its entertainment quotient.

What to do?
'Thaandavam' is definitely worth a watch for its neat screenplay and lavish production values. Go for it and take your family too as it’s a clean, fun film.

in.com rating – 3/5

For more reviews of Thaandavam, go here.