Kanguva Movie Review: An earnest Suriya gives his all for a Siva film that doesn’t give him enough

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The strength of Kanguva is undoubtedly the world Siva has created in his mind. And full points to cinematographer Vetri, art director Milan, and composer Devi Sri Prasad for executing the grandiose to the best of their abilities. The villages, the rituals, the animalistic violence, the costumes, the dialect, the animals, and even the minute differences in each of the villages are quite pronounced. It takes us right into this rather new world that doesn’t follow the rules of how such places are usually seen in our films. However, some of the writing choices pulls us right out of the film because there is only so far that just vision can take a film.

What bridges the gap between execution and vision is the convincing, even if loud, performances of the primary cast, especially Suriya. While I couldn’t care much for his Francis, his Kanguva was genuinely earnest. The screams were as effective as the silent tears. The loudness was as effective as the subtle gestures. Suriya gives it his all to a role that certainly needed more focus and less hurriedness. Bobby Deol, in his debut, gets a role that he has to grunt and growl through, and he is good. But he did have the potential to be a lot more, and once again, it is the writing which is at fault because it burdens Bobby with a one-note character that is highly superficial. Almost none of the other characters register in our minds, including Disha Patani and Yogi Babu, who are spectacularly wasted in the present-day portions that takes too long a time to make some sort of connection.

When traversing timelines is an integral part of the film, it is disappointing that we don’t really get invested in the emotional core of the film. Yes, Suriya and the kid are effective. Yes, Devi Sri Prasad’s music attempts to tug at your heartstrings. But it all feels like flippantly flipping through a history textbook rather than imploring the pages of a time transcending diary.

Keeping us at two arm’s length doesn’t really bode for a film that hinges upon taking an audience on a ride. Take, for instance, the action sequences. They are brilliantly visualised and staged even better. But does it always resonate emotionally? Probably not. Same thing with that idea involving snow capped mountains, 15 women and 25 angry attackers. Excellent on paper, effective in execution, but it feels sudden and out of place. The same thing happens with the crocodile sequence. The writing is just isn’t there to support these moments, and it feels like a missed opportunity considering the VFX is actually decent.

Just like most filmmakers post Baahubali, Siva too is burdened by the need to make Kanguva a two-parter. Honestly, Kanguva does have a decent lead up to the sequel with the right kind of characters being introduced in the past and present timeline. But the first part feels so unfocused and all over the place that we aren’t wholly interested in what happened to Kanguva and Francis. But one can’t deny that Kanguva is indeed about what lies underneath. It is about a promise and a prophecy, it is about forgiveness and grandeur, it is about world building and a vision that was so many years in the making. But unfortunately, it is also about the bland supporting characters. It is also about the emotional disengagement. It is also about the detours that go nowhere. It is also about the randomness of a lot of proceedings that are written in the belief that we’d move past it purely on the strength of the vision.

Basically, Kanguva is definitely a spark that could have created a forest fire, but it settles to just gloriously burn down a few trees before gradually becoming a golden ember, a stark reminder of what could have been.

Kanguva Movie Rating: 2.5/5
Kanguva Movie Cast: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu
Kanguva Movie Director: Siva