Thunivu' review

2023 - 1 - 11

Post cover — Image courtesy of "India Today"

Thunivu Movie Review: Ajith Kumar as anti-hero is a treat to watch in ... (India Today)

Director H Vinoth's Thunivu starring Ajith Kumar, Manju Warrier and John Kokken is a bank heist thriller with an interesting plot at its core.

Overall, Thunivu is a film that brings back the Ajith we have enjoyed in the past. Ghibran’s Chilla Chilla song was a treat to watch on the big screen. That being said, Ajith Kumar is the soul of the film. Though she has a lesser screen time, she has done her best to stand out from the crowd. Also, the downside of Thunivu is the lack of emotional connect in the flashback portions, as they give you a been-there-seen-that feel. The action pieces go on for a while and there’s a lot of beating around the bush that happens before the big reveal happens. At times, you feel like there’s information overload and fans need to hold on till the pre-climax and climax to understand the big picture. With a detailed script, the story feels scrambled in a lot of places and dragging in a few instances. The film and Ajith issue a strong statement against suicide, which is one of the highlights of the film. They are detailed and also conveyed in such a way that it strikes a chord with everyone. The film’s trailer set the tone for a commercial entertainer centered around a bank heist and fans were eager to see Ajith become an anti-hero once again after the much-celebrated Mankatha. Ajith and his gang decide not to accept the proposition.

'Thunivu' movie review: Ajith Kumar moonwalks through a racy but ... (The Hindu)

Ajith Kumar's charisma takes the centre stage in H Vinoth's Thunivu about corruption in private banks, but the film loses itself in some glaring issues.

It was obvious for the fans to make parallels with Ajith’s 2011 film Mankatha given that this film too has a menacing Ajith at the forefront of a bank heist — here too there are double-crosses and... While it’s true that Ajith shoulders the film through his charisma and enigmatic dialogue delivery, he faces no real threat in Thunivu and we get a villain who asks the hero to promise not to kill him (!). We get a second flashback that also adds more substance to the story. For instance, all of a sudden we are expected to back two of the gang members... However, the backstory we get for the gang leaves no impression and there are a lot of unanswered questions. Thunivu is an out-and-out Ajith Kumar show — he enters with a bang, shakes a leg often, sends goons flying, and moonwalks through this cakewalk of a film that doesn’t demand too much from him.

Thunivu movie review: Ajith stars in a decent heist film that is ... (The Indian Express)

Thunivu movie review: The setup of Ajith and H Vinoth's heist film is intriguing, but when the director finally shows all his cards, it's not the royal ...

Yet, sometimes all of this commentary comes at the cost of the film becoming pedestrian and didactic. H Vinoth is aware of this, and that’s why there’s a dialogue in the film that goes something to the tune of, “People always like the ones who entertain them, and not the ones who keep delivering messages.” Maybe, that’s true of films as well. Everything in the film happens in the broad daylight, but they are all pretty dark. The characterisation of the corrupt journalist and his dealings with an equally corrupt police officer are funny and worrying at the same time. Right from the first frame of Thunivu, Vinoth starts setting up the story because he has a bit of a complex one to tell. A gang, with the help of a police officer, plots a bank heist to steal a huge sum of money, which is illegally stored in a bank.

Thunivu Movie Review: Ajith's Star Presence Isn't Enough Currency ... (Film Companion)

The one real aspect of Thunivu that works well is how there's barely any room for basic goodness. Everyone in the film is a little selfish and it's the ...

And you really have to respect this decision because a) this is a more accurate picture of the world because everyone is a little corrupt and b) Vinoth cannot write a real, well-meaning character to save his life. But even this point is arrived at by using a second flashback that features one of the driest bits of writing, only to explain how a bank employee must transform himself to fit into the bank’s unethical modus operandi. But in Thunivu, even this pensioner just doesn’t want to miss out on a get-rich-quick scheme, even if it is in the form of a mutual funds plan. What this does is make even the paavams in the film a tad more alive. It works reasonably well as it gets you to see human behaviour of the outsiders, especially when a bank robbery is taking place. Yet the cleverness of this setup is in understanding how it operates like a see-saw, with the intentions of the bank only becoming clearer as we keep going up the chain of command, working our way up to top management.

Thunivu movie review: Ajith Kumar's heist film is super entertaining (Hindustan Times)

Thunivu movie review: Ajith Kumar stars in one of his most entertaining performances since Mankatha (2011). The Tamil film also stars Manju Warrier and John ...

The rest of the story is about what is Ajith actually doing inside the bank and does he really plan to rob it. The film does fumble towards the end, when the action feels underwhelming but the film has enough moments to keep one invested. But it’s the character of Ajith, who oozes swag from the word go, which makes this one of his most entertaining performances since Mankatha (2011). Ajith earns the trust of the gang and makes them work for him. Everything goes as planned and the gang succeeds in taking control of the bank along with a large group of hostages. [Ajith Kumar, ](https://www.hindustantimes.com/topic/ajith)is a modern-day companion piece to Shankar’s 1993 film Gentleman.

'Thunivu' review: Ajith owns the character in bank heist story (The Federal)

Some heroes are best seen in villainous roles. Ajith's fans will agree. Vaali, Billa and Mankatha easily rank among his best performances, thanks to the ...

While all the scenes featuring Ajith Kumar are enjoyable, a major portion in the second half is without him and, after a point, the message that H Vinoth tries to convey becomes preachy. Just when they think they have succeeded, ‘Dark Devil’ (Ajith Kumar) is also inside the bank, but with a bigger mission — to expose many unknown scams within the banking system. Vaali, Billa and Mankatha easily rank among his best performances, thanks to the negative shades he has portrayed in them.