KAAVAL MOVIE REVIEW

Kaaval was noted pre-release for its impressively cut teaser and the subsequent trailer which hinted that the film was about the menace of contract killers around Tamil Nadu and how the cops curb them.

 

Samuthirakani plays an undercover cop who quickly transitions to the 'khaki' avatar as a robust encounter specialist who hunts for the kingpin (Karuna) among these killers. Vemal is as usual seen as the careless, jobless loafer who is lured into this hunt between the cops and the killers and is forced to act beyond a point.

 

There is also a love interest for Vemal and the romance is the weakest link in the movie. Then we have the sidekicks for Vemal (including 'Kumki' Ashwin) and they wander around with 'thanni', 'side-dish' and 'figure' as their only motto.

 

The songs tuned by G.V.Prakash are inserted without imagination and add little value to the overall picture. Dharan has done the BGM work and it is on the louder side. The film has an overall flashy, brash visual treatment and there are plenty of jump cuts. Most of the actors go awry with their lip sync and this is another distraction. But the crisp run time of under 2 hours is a definite relief.

 

With a title like Kaaval, most cops are ironically portrayed as corrupt, money-minded and hand in glove with the killers. The likes of Imman Annachi, M.S.Bhaskar and Singamuthu fall under this lousy lot. It is Samuthirakani whose role is written as the single leading light in the force and the actor gives it his all. He is becoming quite adept at these kind of intense and good-intentioned roles as seen in Saattai, Kaadu and now Kaaval. Kaaval is whatever it is thanks to Samuthirakani, who is also physically fit with a nicely twirled mustache adding on to his police look.

 

We also have a cop character named Alwin Sudhan (a young sub-inspector in the TN force who was brutally murdered by an armed gang few years ago) and the director has tried to use this sentimental angle. This name is repeatedly mouthed and eulogized by Samuthirakani.

 

To sum up Kaaval, the cops vs contract killers theme is interesting and it has some good moments when Samuthirakani is in charge. But overall, the film doesn't create the desired impact.