‘Thug Life' review: Cinematic panache to the rescue in the Battle of Man Buns

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2 days ago

Mani Ratnam's Thug Life has an array of ruffians. The Tamil movie's biggest thug is arguably its director, who muscles his way through a slight storyline with trademark brio.
In the gripping opening sequence, Amar loses his father and sister in quick succession during a gunfight. The orphaned Amar (Silambarasan TR) is raised by the gangster Sakthivel (Kamal Haasan). Sakthivel's operation includes his brother Manickam (Nassar) and the henchmen Pathros (Joju George) and Anburaj (Bagavathi Perumal).
The green-eyed monster rears its head when Sakthivel anoints Amar as his heir, and runs hither and tither when Amar decides to bite the hand that has fed him. The older man's rival Sadanand (Mahesh Manjrekar) and police officer Jaikumar (Ashok Selvan) are among those trying to take advantage of what turns out to be the Battle of the Man Buns, magnificent specimens of which are sported by Aman and Sakthivel.
Thug Life continues Ratnam's career-long preoccupation with the lingering effects of the early loss of innocence. The ghost of Nayakan (1987), in Ratnam directed Kamal Haasan, flits through Thug Life, daring the new film to match its poignancy.
Thug Life, written by Ratnam and Haasan, also contains a smattering of Ratnam's Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018), about the gradual implosion of a family of criminals. There is a timeless, fable-like quality to Thug Life 's treatment of filial ties and Sakhtivel's back-from-the-brink hero.
The movie's largely Delhi setting duly yields a line about the city's history of betrayal and fratricide. Sequences set in the snow are a pointer to the icicles that have formed in the hearts of characters, waiting to be wielded like knives.
While the new film's plot is as old as the hills, the staging and treatment of character arcs have the ability to surprise, mesmerise even. Thug Life looks fresh, exciting and seductive – the classic Mani Ratnam trick to make even the routine appear like something you have never seen before.
Rather than the addictive Jinguchaa, it's AR Rahman's Vinveli Nayaga that resonates. The track is used mostly in fragments and in its instrumental version throughout Thug Life, linking together an act of violence done to a boy with the backstabbing that becomes a part of his adulthood.
Ravi K Chandran's cinematography is kinetic when required and lyrical when showcasing the numerous characters who populate the film's universe. The cast is littered with heavy-hitters and lightweights, some of whom are striking despite being on the screen for only a few minutes.
Abhirami, Trisha, Joju George, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Vadivukkarasi make the most of their limited screen time. Others mark attendance simply because there is too much ground to be covered and not enough road for them.
Why is Ali Fazal, or Rajshri Deshpande, in the film? Why does Mahesh Manjrekar's Sadanand drop out of view? Whatever is the deal about Sakhtivel and Manickam, brothers in life and crime?
There's a smaller, sweeter story nestled within a protracted 165-minute run-time that is dominated by Anbariv's action set pieces after the interval. Sakhtivel's love for his wife Jeeva (Abhirami), which doesn't come in the way of his lust for his young mistress Indrani (Trisha); Amar's ambivalent feelings towards a paternalistic figure associated with his own father's loss; Amar's missing sister Chandra – this is Thug Life 's emotional core, which has to fight through layers of padding.
Thug Life muddles the good-bad binary usually found in Ratnam's films, but ever so slightly. The movie sometimes has a Rajinikanth problem. Having cast a screen icon in the lead role, and despite controlling his tendency towards grandstanding, Thug Life is loath to acknowledging, or accepting, that Sakthivel can be a monster too.
Kamal Haasan is a memorable lion in winter, dominating his scenes without overwhelming his co-actors. Silambarasan TR is sharp too, standing up to the veteran Haasan despite being shoved to the margins at times.
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