Thillalangadi – Yet Another Pleasing Remake From Raja

Banner: Sun Pictures, Jeyam Company

Production: Editor Mohan, Kalanidhi Maaran

Direction: Jeyam Raja

Star-casts: Jeyam Ravi, Thamannah, Shyam, Vadivelu, Santhanam, Mansoor Ali Khan, Prabhu, Livingstone, Thyagu, Sathyan, Mayilsamy, Deepu, Suhasini, Nalini, Lakshmi, Latha Rao, Chandra Lakshman, Lollu Sabha Manohar, John Vijay, Balaji, Jayaprakash and Raja

Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Lyrics: Vaali, Na.Muthukumar, Vivega

Cinematography: Rajashekar

Art: Milan

Action: Rocky Rajesh

Verdict: Watch it once

Rating: 3/5

July 23, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Jeyam Ravi’s previous films with his elder brother Raja have been commendable remakes and Thillalangadi isn’t an exception. Director Raja has copied each and every shot from the original version Kick. Of course, the film has been delivered in an entertaining manner with the attempts of savoring the universal audiences. Kudos to Surendar Reddy: the maker of original version for crafting a commendable tale and gripping screenplay.

To be precise, Jeyam Raja can be doubtlessly ennobled as the “Best Remake Director’ for exactly replicating others’ ideas. Of course, Kick itself was inspired from Hollywood’s famous thriller Catch me if you can, but it was only with the plot.

Thillalangadi isn’t different from Kick. The only difference is couple of additional songs.

Krishna (Jeyam Ravi) is a happy-go-lucky youngster, who often commits himself into risks as he feels the right Kick over it. Well for Nisha (Thamannah), what starts as a hatred turns into love with Krishna. But sooner as she finds her beau so irresponsible swapping jobs often, she breaks up with him. Sooner the story shifts to Malaysia, where Nisha’s parents arrange her marriage with Krishna Kumar (Shaam), a tough and honest cop. Krishna uncovers that he has traveled all the way to Malaysia to trap a smart thief, who has been looting crores of money from leading tycoons and politicians. The intriguing part of the film is about the fact that the thief is none other than Nisha’s ex-boyfriend Krishna.

Rest of the film is all about how Krishna wins back the heart of Nisha and the reason behind his robberies having a substantial reason.

The biggest problem with Thillalangadi is about each and every actor aping the characters of Kick. Be it the lead actors Ravi and Thamannah or Santhanam imitating Telugu actor Ali, it’s really absurd and Raja should have focused letting them act their own way. Thamannah looks cute, but again her imitation of Ileana could have been avoided. Just watch out for her gestures while performing aerobics as it’s too clumsy. Ravi looks cute and chirpy and his performance during last 45 mins is perfect. Vadivelu is good with his comedy tracks while Santhanam doesn’t get enough footage. Shaam is extraordinary with his mind-boggling acting. He looks fit and perfectly suits the role of a tough cop. It’s better if Shaam continues to choose such roles in future. Prabhu excels with his minimal role and Suhasini sleepwalks through her role. Radha Ravi evokes laughter with his dialogues. But the silliest part is about Raja copying even the lines “Jil Jil Jiga’ from Telugu as it is often uttered by Manobala (The reason “Jil Jil Jiga’ appears in Kick is that because the famous song in “Happy Days’ starts with these fancy words).

Just as mentioned before, Raja hasn’t strained him even to the least extent. The screenplay from the beginning till the end is the same as in Kick. At least Raja could’ve avoided the minuses of the original version as second hour is too long and sluggish except the flashback sequences and climax.

Musical score by Yuvan Shankar is okay while Rajasekhar’s cinematography is mediocre. Editing looks sleek and stylish.

On the whole, Thillalangadi is a family entertainer as it carries the right mix of fun, romance, sentiments, and action. Next time Raja makes a film, we request him to come up with his own ideas rather than remaking films.

– R. Richard Mahesh/Sampurn Wire