Kuruthi Aattam movie review: Melodrama and shoddy editing let down this passable action-drama

Director Sri Ganesh’s debut 8 Thottakal and his sophomore film, Kuruthi Aattam, have a lot in common. Both movies are dense in terms of writing. It’s hard to come up with a one-liner for both films. Kuruthi Aattam can be called a story about Sakthivel (Atharvaa)’s relentless pursuit to protect those closest to him. Or, it can be perceived as the story of Arivu (Prakash Raghavan), a coward, who wants to avenge anyone who thinks he is ‘sappa’ (Tamil slang for a wuss). And a lot of people actually do. A lot happens in Kuruthi Aattam that constitutes character development – something we seldom see in most Tamil cinema. Unfortunately, in the pursuit of telling where his characters are coming from, the director fails to tell where the film is going. In the end, after all the solid build-up, the film heads for a generic climax. We don’t get the cathartic experience that we were waiting for and a key element for any revenge story.

As far as the story goes, Sakthivel is a hospital attender, who keeps attempting his Class 10th Math exam. In one of his re-attempt exams, Vennila (Priya Bhavani Shankar) serves as the invigilator. No points for guessing where this is heading. Of course, both fall in love, etc. However, the catch here is that Vennila hates violence because her father is an ex-con (yes, generic!). On the other hand, violence becomes an integral part of Sakthi’s life when he wins a kabbadi tournament and embarrasses Arivu. Now, Arivu’s cousin, Muthu (Kanna Ravi) is the son of Gandhimathi (Radikaa Sarathkumar), the top gangster of Madurai. Arivu’s bruised ego leads to the downfall of everyone around him.

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This pretty much sets up the motive and the stage for Kuruthi Aattam. But Sri Ganesh doesn’t stop. He introduces Kanmani (Divyadarshini), a sick girl who bonds with Sakthi, to increase the emotional quotient of the story. He doesn’t stop there either. There is another tear-jerker of a story with Sakthi’s sister Kalai too. And he doesn’t… never mind. This overwritten melodrama ends up being the downfall of Kuruthi Aattam.

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Instead of helping the film, the editing and Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music make Kuruthi Aattam looks shoddy. It is evident that Sri Ganesh has put a lot of thought into the writing of the film. It’s far from being lazy. That’s why it’s shocking to see why he hasn’t extended the same effort in overseeing the underwhelming editing of his film. On the other hand, Yuvan’s work is jarringly mediocre when the film had so much scope. The songs are instantly forgettable and one can notice a conspicuous reluctance with the original score.

Two things work majorly in Kuruthi Aattam. One is the brilliantly-written character of Arivu, backed by a commendable performance by Prakash Raghavan. He instantly makes you hate the character, and that makes us look forward to him getting his due. Secondly, the bromance between Sakthivel and Muthu (Kanna Ravi) is heartwarming. It felt organic unlike the other emotional aspects of the film. Muthu is the only character that we end up caring for.

However, these few points fail to redeem the movie. It is rather disappointing to see a generic film from Sri Ganesh, who made a promising debut with 8 Thottakal.