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Join UsStar Cast: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Natarajan Subramaniam, KS Ravikumar
Director: Siva
What’s Good: Few action sequences, Suriya’s performance as Kanguva, the background score of the title track, cinematography and costumes, and art direction.
What’s Bad: The cringe comedic sequences in the year 2024 scenes, the movie tries too hard to draw parallels between the past and the present in the climax, action scenes become borderline illogical in a few scenes, Bobby Deol is highly underutilized, What was the exact purpose of Disha Patani in the film? And Yogi Babu’s jokes desperately trying to be funny.
Loo Break: You can take one easily in the second half. It won’t be much of a loss
Watch or Not?: Suriya’s die-hard fans can go for it but otherwise, it’s a major disappointment
Language: Tamil
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 154 minutes
User Rating:
Ever since Suriya’s Kanguva was revealed to be a reincarnation drama, there has been a fear that the movie might try too hard to keep drawing parallels between the two timelines beneath all of the larger-than-life action and background score. This proves to be true in the case of this Siva starrer fantasy action drama. On a quest to draw too many dramatic and emotionally high-octane parallels, the film falls flat, and the melodramatic touch becomes too jarring to bear.
Francis (Suriya) a streetsmart and conniving bounty hunter, starts feeling a strange connection with a young boy nicknamed Zeta, who has been a victim of some strange brain experimentation by the Russians. Francis feels strangely drawn towards the boy, and it is soon revealed that they have a divine connection through their past life. Francis was a dreadful but righteous tribal warrior and chieftain’s son Kanguva 100 years ago. He was dedicated to protecting the island of Perimachi, which was being eyed by the Roman conquerors. After a series of betrayals and a game of power play, he comes face to face with his arch nemesis Udhiran (Bobby Deol), the chieftain of the rival Arathi tribal cult. We soon get to know how Francis/Kanguva is bound by Zeta in his present life.
Kanguva Movie Review: Script Analysis
One of the major drawbacks of Kanguva lies in its shoddy screenplay and writing which cannot be rescued even with the magnanimous sets, costumes, bg score, and action sequences. The movie’s weakest link is the events happening in the present 2024 stage. The lousy comedic gags don’t land and instead appear to be cringe. The desperate attempt to evoke laughter through The Boys theme and the ‘Moye Moye’ track playing in the background looks even more bizarre. If this is not enough, the movie tries too hard to draw incessant parallels between the past and the present, especially in the climax, which appears extremely melodramatic and jarring. The core premise of love, forgiveness, and sacrifice, which is reflected in the bond of Kanguva and Puruva in the past, does not evoke the needed emotions. There is no development in the sub-plots of the Roman conquerors or the Russian experimentation in Zeta’s brain. The script has several loopholes that are marred further by this reincarnation aspect and the need to justify the same.
Kanguva Movie Review: Star Performance
Suriya is the sole guiding anchor of this one. He particularly shines as Kanguva and inculcates the needed fierceness, valor, strength, and vulnerability in his performance. At the same time, his act as Francis falls flat because of the lousy writing and the cringe comedic dialogues. Bobby Deol is still in his Abrar Haque mode from Animal. Only this time, instead of breaking into the ‘Jamal Kudu’ song with a glass on top of his head, he keeps on screaming and screeching each and every dialogue. The actor, though, tries to do justice to his character but ends up being significantly underutilized.
Yogi Babu’s comedic gags just don’t land and instead come across as unnecessary. And I’m still trying to decipher the need for Disha Patani in this movie. She is just reduced to being Francis’ toxic ex and a rival bounty hunter. It was laborious to see Disha and Suriya share an extremely awkward chemistry in a misplaced song called ‘YOLO.’ A special shoutout to the young child artist who plays Zeta/Puruva in the movie.
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Kanguva Movie Review: Direction, Music
Barring a few action sequences like the one wherein Suriya’s Kanguva battles a crocodile or his introductory sequence, the film’s execution goes haywire. It heavily relies on melodramatic dialogues wherein almost everyone has the need to shout in the top decibels to be heard and felt. The music by Devi Sri Prasad hits a high note in the title track and ‘Mannipu.’ The background score is also effective in some of the action sequences, but otherwise, primarily, it becomes too loud and jarring. The costumes by Anu Vardhan, the cinematography by Vetri Palaniswamy, and the art direction by the late Milan also hit the right notes.
Kanguva Movie Review: The Last Word
The Suriya starrer had a lot of potential to be a well-executed magnum opus. But the lousy writing and a haphazard reincarnation parallel plot overshadow Suriya’s star power and a massive 300 crore+ scale. Look out for a cameo which paves the way for the second part but does not spark that needed excitement. Overall, we don’t know if we are looking forward to the ‘rebirth’ of this one.
Kanguva Trailer
Kanguva was released on 14 November 2024.
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For more recommendations, read our Vettaiyan Review here.
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