Film:Thupaki
Rating: 3/5
Banner: Gemini Film Circuit, SVR Media
Cast: Vijay, Kajal, Vidyut Jamwal, Satyan, Jayaram etc
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Editing: Sreekar Prasad
Camera: Santhosh Sivan
Producer: Sobha
Story, Screeplay, Direction: AR Murugudoss
Releasing Date: Nov 13, 2012
Vijay, the top star of Tamilnadu, hasn't yet opened the hit account in Telugu till now. If not like Rajni and Kamal the heroes like Surya, Vikram and Karthi have proved to be salable heroes in AP. But Vijay hasn't reached even that mark. But he has idea to expand his horizons beyond Tamilnadu. Now he has come up with Thupaki in the direction of Murugudoss, who has got a considerable name in Tollywood.
Story:
Jagadish (Vijay) who works with Indian Army comes to Mumbai on vacation. He catches a terrorist accidentally. He extracts the fact from him that 12 serial blasts were planned in Mumbai. With his operation he stops that mishap. With this the terrorist master mind (Vidyut) comes in search of Jagadish to put an end to him to continue his mercenary. What happens from then forms the rest.
Performances:
This film proved to be the best one for Vijay to show his talent for Telugu audience. He did a very subtle performance keeping his trade mark Tamil overaction away. He intelligently under played the intelligent Army officer's character. And his dances are meticulous and up to the standard to impress Telugu aidience.
Kajal has no importance in this film. She is just for heroine sake. Her scenes and songs put brakes to the flow of narration. She gained weight and there lies her new sex quotient.
Vidyut is perfect as negative lead. Jayaram's comedy is ok and Satyan also did his part well.
Harris Jayaraj's music is a dud for this film. No single song could catch the senses of audience. Santhosh Sivan's cinematography is the asset for this film. Editing is good and dubbing is ok.
This is a commendable product from Murugudoss who played the balance act by making the film to the tune of majority audience.
Highlights:
- Terrorist episodes
- Direction
- Cinematography
Drawbacks:
- Songs
- Heroine Track
- Weak Climax
Analysis:
It is not an easy task to impress with the terrorist subject. Many Telugu and Tamil films those have come as action fims with the elements of terrorism have ended up as laughing stocks. Hence there has been a general opinion that only Bollywood can make such subjects as it syncs with nativity. But Thupaki proves that even south can make good films with such backdrop by taking enough care.
It is an example for the scenario where a hero beleived his director completely. The hero hasn't gone to the level of getting punch dialogues written for him like regular masala films. He underplayed as per director's wish and thus the imtelligence of director got enough freedom to get showcased. But the romance track marred to a big extent. It is acceptable to knit as many romantic episodes as possible befrore the actual story kick starts. But once the story starts and still romance keeps keeps flowing, it hinders the mood of audience. It happened with Thupaki.
And the care must have been taken even in climax. But still, this film stands as a platform for Vijay's career in Tollywood. This is not a Diwali Thupaki but a real one with ample bullets in it.
Bottom Line: Thupaki triggered well
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
