Kanguva Movie Review

Kanguva is a 2024 Tamil language action adventure fantasy period film written and directed by Siva. The film is dubbed into Telugu and other Indian languages with the same title. The film has Suriya, & Disha Patani playing the lead roles while Bobby Deol, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, Natarajan Subramaniam, Anandaraj, Kovai Sarala, KS. Ravikumar, Vatsan Chakravarthy, T. M. Karthik, G. Marimuthu, Deepa Venkat, & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed by Devi Sri Prasad while the film is produced by KE. Gnanavel Raja, Vamsi & Pramod under Studio Green & UV Creations banners.

Story:

Francis Theodore (Suriya) is a carefree shadow cop who lives in present-day Goa along with Angelina (Disha Patani), a bounty hunter. One day he finds his fate inexplicably linked with the legendary fearless warrior, Kanguva (Suriya) through a kid named Pulova. This extraordinary duo, separated by centuries, must unite to fulfill a centuries-old promise. What is the promise? Who is Kanguva? What is the connection between Kanguva & Pulova? The answers will be given in the movie.

What about on-screen performances?

Suriya is a brilliant actor and he once again proves his worth with this film. He gives out an outstanding performance in the dual roles and the best thing is he is pretty convincing in both roles that are poles apart in terms of looks & characterization.

His hard work is clearly seen in every frame as Kanguva and is uber cool with his style and act as Francis. Bobby Deol is menacing and gives out a pretty decent performance as the main antagonist Udhiran. However, his character is one-dimensional and lacks the fierceness that was required.

Disha Patani looked glamourous in her role of Angelina. But her role had very little substance as all her scenes with Suriya are weak. Yogi Babu & Redin Kingsley are wasted in impactless comedy roles. The child actor who played Pulova is good at his part and does well with his expressions.

Natarajan Subramaniam, Anandaraj, Kovai Sarala, KS.Ravikumar, Vatsan Chakravarthy, T. M. Karthik, G. Marimuthu, Deepa Venkat, & others are fine in their limited supporting parts.

What about off-screen talents?

Kanguva is a fictional story set in an imaginary world that revolves around the life of a heroic figure from ancient Tamil history.

The story by Siva is good. It had all the potential with the way things are set up but the plot is not peppered with engaging scenes. The emotions and drama in the past portions look forced which needed better writing.

The screenplay by Siva & Adi Narayana is the biggest drawback of the film. All the drama that happens between the clans is uninteresting and the first 20 mins between Suriya & Disha aren’t up to the mark. Also, one of the major minuses of the writing is that the emotional thread between Kanguva & Pulova never works as expected. Also, the transition between the present scenes and the past episodes isn’t done smoothly.

Director Siva does an extraordinary job with his whole presentation. He makes sure that the film has a big screen appeal with the visuals and grandeur and his team deserves credit for pulling off a film of this scale. But had he had a better screenplay with a clear narrative pattern along with some engaging drama, then this would have been the biggest blockbuster in Tamil cinema. The Telugu lyrics by Rakendu Mouli are well-written but the Telugu dialogues are pretty underwhelming.

The overuse of ancient/historical words does not add much value to the film. In fact, they are confusing at a few places. The songs by Devi Sri Prasad are on point. The ‘Fire song’ and the ‘Naayaka’ track are mesmerizing and add huge value to the film while the ‘Yolo’ song is a peppy track that is good to shake a leg. Even the ‘Mannimpu’ track hits the right chords when it comes along with the narrative. His background score too is neat and gels well with the genre of the film. The cinematography by Vetri Palanisamy is the biggest strength of the film.

His camera work, framing, and lighting give the film the much-needed big canvas for this historic period action drama. His work makes sure that this film should be witnessed only on big screens. The edit by Nishad Yusuf should have been crisper, especially the action parts. Almost about 10-15 minutes could’ve been easily chopped off from the film. The action choreography by Supreme Sundar is first-rate.

All the action sequences are choreographed brilliantly and they look grand on big screens. Special mention to the whole art team, the production design by Milan, the costumes by Anu Vardhan, Dhatsha Pillai, Maria Merlyn & Rajan, and the makeup design by Serina, Kuppusamy & Ranjith A. All their work brings authenticity and the much-needed scale to the film.

The sound design by T.Udhayakumar & Renjith. V and the VFX in the film too are of good quality. The production values by Studio Green & UV Creations are world-class.

What’s Hot?

* Suriya’s Performance In Dual Roles
* A Special Surprising Cameo At The End
* Superb Songs & Decent Background Score
* Interval Block & Pre-Climax Action Block
* Top Notch Production Design & Art Work
* Well Designed Costumes & Make Up
* First Rate Cinematography & Grand Visuals
* ExcellentProduction Values & VFX

What’s Not?

* Zero Emotional Connect Between Kanga & Pulova
* Poor Screenplay & No High Moments
* Lacks Engaging Story Telling & Boring Second Half
* All Scenes Between The Clans Are Uninteresting
* Crocodile Portion Isn’t Engaging
* Silly Bounty Hunter Portions
* Underwhelming Dialogues
* Overly Done Character/Clan/Places Names

Verdict:

Kanguva is a below par action adventure period film that had the potential but misses it mark due to the clumsy narration and poorly written screenplay. It had a few good action set pieces but never had the emotional connect that is needed to make the action parts work. Overall, you can give it a try ONLY if you love Suriya or if want a big screen experience with grand visuals.

Don’t Call Me Ulaganayagan: Kamal Haasan

Veteran Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan is one of the most popular names in South Indian cinema. In tune with his impeccable record of playing diverse roles, he is given the famous tag of Ulaganayagan.

However, Kamal doesn’t appear to be in approval of these tags and he has retreated against them today. He has asked his fans and common audience alike not to use such extension names to him. I have always felt a deep sense of gratitude over being bestowed with endearing titles such as Ulaganayagan, among others.

Such accolades, given by the people and recognized by esteemed colleagues and admirers, has always been humbling, and I’ve been genuinely moved by your love in conferring it upon me, Kamal stated.

However, the legendary emphasised against the usage of such tags as he wrote “The art of cinema transcends beyond any one individual and I am but a student of the craft, forever hoping to evolve, learn and grow. Cinema, like any other form of creative expression, belongs to all. It is the collaboration of countless artists, technicians, and audience who make it what it is – a true reflection of humanity’s diverse, rich, and ever-evolving stories. It is my humble belief that the artist must not be elevated above the art. I prefer to remain grounded, constantly aware of my imperfections and my duty to improve.”

Hence, after considerable reflection, I feel compelled to respectfully decline all such titles or prefixes. I humbly request that all my fans, the media, members of film fraternity, party cadre and fellow Indians, to here on after, refer to me simply as Kamal Haasan or Kamal or KH. Thank you again for your gestures of kindness over the years. Please know that this decision comes from a place of humility and a desire to remain true to my roots and purpose, to always be one among all of us – the lovers of this beautiful art form, Kamal concluded.

Kamal has stated that he doesn’t wish to be called Ulaganayagan or any such titles in the future and urged everyone to simply refer to him as Kamal or KH.