‘Kuruthi Aattam’ movie review: Atharvaa’s revenge saga has too much action and too little depth

Three different strands of the storyline make an appearance within five minutes into the film. A girl insists on watering a plant somewhere. Elsewhere, a student is writing an exam for the 17th time, while in another place, a jail scuffle ensues and an unexpected friendship forms.

These three incidents are but minor situations that lead to the establishment of other relationships, which in turn affect each other.

Shakthi (Atharvaa) is a youngster growing up in Madurai and doing the routine Tamil cinema things: hanging out with friends, playing kabaddi, falling in love and engaging in local brawls. An unexpected turn of events gets him involved in the happenings of a big gang, headed by the don who controls the city, Gandhimathi (Radhika Sarathkumar). How will things proceed?

The biggest problem of Kuruthi Aattam is its desire to pack many things into its already-long 149-minute narrative. Just when it decides to focus on the protagonist’s friendships, love comes along. Just when it decides to delve into the romance, a sister narrative emerges. That’s followed by a revenge narrative, and a bond with a young child…the list goes on. There’s just too much happening too soon here.

The intention would have probably been to make a gritty revenge drama – and the seeds of the idea are present – but over-indulgence and the number of subplots ruin the experience. Also, the time given to each of the relationships that the protagonists forges over the course of the film is so less than we are least invested in the characters.

Unexpected friendships and relationships are at the core of this film; Shakthi’s friendship with a key character (Kanna Ravi as Muthu) is among its highlights. There are several warm moments and camaraderie here, and one wishes that such moments were aplenty in a film that’s otherwise too intent on aruvas and guns. Atharvaa gets a couple of solid moments, and shines, while Vatsan Chakravarthy has a solid presence as the menacing Sethu. Radhikaa’s presence is also powerful, but her character has very one-dimensional shades that it becomes predictable after a while. While there’s not much to dig into Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music, some of the key dialogues are well written, especially the one about mistakes and friendships. The action choreography and sequences deserve special praise, but the numerous slow-motion shots could have been avoided.

In my review of director Sri Ganesh’s 2017 film,8 Thottakkal, I had written, “It’s a script that’s surely the result of some serious brain-work on the part of director Sri Ganesh, who’s not far behind the rich crop of promising debut filmmakers.” With Kuruthi Aattam, he shows another glimpse into that promise, but packs in too many elements to keep us glued to the screen.