Thandavam, The latest Tamil Film

We have a unique way to remember Mahatma Gandhi. On October 1, 2005(or was it 2006?), Ghajini was released. For a country that got its independence through Non violence, Director AR Murgadoss (who lamented as the credits of 7AM Arivu rolled down, the degeneration of a great country!!!) made one of the most violent flicks. The talented Mr. Vijay who gets inspired by almost all well made films and adapts even small sequences with extraordinary intelligence has now paid a tribute to the great Mahatma by adapting Ghajini on the eve of another Gandhi Jayanthi. Replace Short term Memory Loss by Blindness, Combine the revenge with the unrequited love you have Thandavam. While the disabilities of Short term memory helped the director whip up a certain excitement in the narration, the the tautness of Thandavam's narrative needed an investigator like Nedumudi Veni in INdian or Prakash Raj in Anniyan to enhance the tension to the story. Unfortunately Nasser's role has not been etched with depth it really required. Consequently you have a straight forward tale of retribution. The hype and publicity surrounding Dan Kish and echo location do not add to the requiredd tension for the narrative. Vijay successfully manages to insert his customary redundant duet near the climax(just like Madarapattinam and Theivathirumagal). For the positives, the movie is an interesting watch, the love story, part Ghajini, part Dum Dum Dum, is narrated with a lot of taste. As a hard core Vikram fan, his role is not entirely satisfying. While Anushka is impressive, it is Saranya, as Vikram's mother in a small cameo who steals the films acting honours.