‘Kanguva’ film overview: A fiery Suriya headlines Siva’s damp squib of a movie

A Roman common, in a bid to increase his base, ventures out into the open sea along with his military. Earlier than you suppose you may have inadvertently clicked the hyperlink to the overview of Gladiator 2, fret not; that is how Kanguva begins. The fascinating story of director Siva’s Kanguva stretches from a legendary island’s hills to the sandy shores of Goa; it even transcends time as its proceedings happen in two totally different timelines. However whether or not they amalgamate to make for an intriguing watch is a unique query altogether.

In Kanguva, Suriya performs Francis, a bounty hunter who is available in contact with a misplaced child, with whom he appears to share a connection from their previous lives. We then see how round 1000 years in the past, in a five-island landmass — every with its personal set of chiefdoms, customs and professions (straight from the pages of Raya and the Final Dragon) — Suriya, additionally taking part in the titular function, because the son of Perumaachi’s chieftain, makes a promise to the identical child. As historical past repeats itself, our protagonist has to save lots of this baby to know the way they’re related.

On paper, Kanguva has every thing going for it; there’s the grandeur on a scale unseen in each Suriya and Siva’s filmography; established Bollywood stars of their Tamil debut (as a result of what else screams ‘pan-India’ than actors from different industries); and an emotional core, a side now we have come to affiliate with Siva’s movies. However Kanguva turns into a textbook instance of how a riveting story can get misplaced in translation as a consequence of shoddy making.

The cracks turn into obvious proper from the get-go after we are launched to Francis and his ex-girlfriend, a fellow bounty hunter named Angelina (Disha Patani), and their respective partners-in-crime, performed by Yogi Babu and Redin Kingsley. From a writing perspective, contemplating a lot of the movie is about in a distant previous, it may need made sense to make the current look as vibrant and futuristic as doable. However what we’re subjected to are sequences that includes Francis’ household talking Tamil with an English accent, whereas he’s taking part in VR video games, and utilizing Siri to calculate chances of assembly somebody he ran into. Alternatively, the child, whose character is a blatant rip-off of Eleven from Stranger Issues, is subjected to… unusual issues inside a Russian facility, from the place he escapes simply and finally ends up with Francis.

Previous the shockingly underwhelming present-day scenes, and numerous pictures of the moon and computer-generated eagles, we lastly step into the comparatively higher interval parts. The world, its folks, and their lives kind the USP of Kanguva, and artwork director, the late Milan, and cinematographer Vetri do an outstanding job of placing us proper in the midst of the motion with their impeccable technical prowess. The proficient crew be sure the appear and feel that the scope of the movie aspires for is met, and it’s in the good thing about the movie that it exhibits the place its huge price range was spent.

However as soon as the preliminary awe of this spellbinding world settles, the numerous chinks in its armour turn into extra evident. At its core, Kanguva is an emotional story of a person and his relationship with a child — a stranger who turns into his kin. It’s in regards to the calamity that introduces them to one another, the betrayal that will get them nearer, and the promise that makes them a household; they need to have rightfully made for among the greatest stretches of Kanguva. The parts that includes the duo transversing forests and surviving the chances jogged my memory of the insanely fascinating dynamics between Kratos and his son Atreus from the 2018 online game ‘God of Struggle.’

A nonetheless from ‘Kanguva’ 
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Regardless of centring on this plot, the movie, so as to add extra motion and drama, introduces Udhiran (the criminally underutilised Bobby Deol) and his Araththi tribe that’s minimize from the identical fabric as Kalakeyas from the Baahubali franchise. If the crimson filter, blood-splashing kills, and the carcasses of murdered males and animals don’t drive residence the purpose, they’re the baddies, and their encounters with the Perumaachi of us lead to a massacre for them and an assault on our senses.

Whereas the over-the-top nature of those primitive of us could be discounted, what comes as a significant snag is how loud the movie will get. Bear in mind the images of Apple watches displaying the high-decibel noise the grounds encountered when Dhoni got here in to bat through the IPL? Kanguva, for causes unknown, takes it up as a problem to place these memes to disgrace. Other than testing our ear drums’ energy, additionally they make it tough to comply with the dialogues and take a toll on the immersiveness that’s paramount for a movie like Kanguva. If that’s not sufficient, Devi Sri Prasad’s songs and rating supply little to no solace.

The sequences are additionally clumsily put collectively; there’s an fascinating scene that includes a gaggle of Perumaachi girls caught in enemy territory and one other one the place Kanguva battles a crocodile. Such standalone sequences would have labored nicely had they seamlessly fitted into the narrative, however right here, they really feel forcefully infused. For a movie banking closely on its motion sequences, it’s secure to say that Kanguva breaks no obstacles on that entrance. The movie does have some scenes with nice potential — like when Kanguva detects his enemies with a hand from his trusty, winged pet. There are even some slivers of considerate writing and picturisation — when a personality holds gold cash in entrance of his eyes, the shot denotes how the bribe is blinding him; one other shot of crimson wine spilling over a map prophesies the carnage in these areas. However none work due to their disconnect with the core.

Regardless of a slew of abilities, it’s Suriya who stands tall along with his dominating display screen presence. Whereas taking part in Francis looks as if a cakewalk for him, the multitude of feelings his character Kanguva undergoes provides immense area for the actor to showcase his performing prowess.

In the long run, whereas we query the Kanguva equal of ‘Why Kattappa killed Baahubali?’ — with the pop-culture aficionado in me hoping for an ‘Murderer’s Creed’-y climax — we get an ending that proves how sequel-baiting has turn into a panic-inducing pattern. With a narrative that banks an excessive amount of on its interval parts, and assures a much more promising storyline in future titles, Kanguva gives little or no to take pleasure in at present.

Kanguva is at present working in theatres