'Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu' review: Gautham Menon returns to form

Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu
Tamil (Theatres)
Director: Gautham Menon
Cast: Silambarasan, Siddhi Idnani, Siddique,
Rating: 3/5

With ‘Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada’ (2016), Gautham Vasudev Menon stopped narrating gangster stories from the point of view of a cop. Even ‘Enai Noki Paayum Thota’ (2019) was about a commoner stuck in a dangerous situation.

The change in approach notwithstanding, Gautham’s heroes looked like clones of each other. They were English-speaking Tamil guys who came from an urban setting and went over-the-top with words while expressing their love to their women.

In his prime, Gautham had a knack of emotionally connecting us to his make-believe world of romance. But once our idea of love began changing, his characters felt repetitive. The familiar characters had a serious impact on his films, with ‘Guitar Kambi Mele Nindru’ from the ‘Navarasa’ anthology being the best example.

In such a context, ‘Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu’, starring Silambarasan a.k.a Simbu, breaks several notions of a Gautham Vasudev Menon film. The hero, for a change, is from a village in Tamil Nadu. Unlike in the director’s other films (‘Vaaranam Aayiram’), his family isn’t well off to be extremely generous in supporting his wishful fantasies. Muthu (Simbu) is forced to fight for survival in Mumbai. Expectedly, he is caught in the web of gang wars.

‘Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu’ isn’t racy or amped up with adrenaline-rushing moments typical of gangster films. It isn’t in the raw zone of a Ram Gopal Verma film. Yet, Gautham returns to form as he does something unusual with the genre.

The deliberate slow pace is strangely engaging and doesn’t make the film ordinary. In fact, Gautham brilliantly reflects the cold, matter-of-fact operations of the underworld. He balances this realistic style with extremely slick and stylised gun fights, propelled further by A R Rahman’s haunting score.

The love story dents the film’s flow. Sure, Gautham is wary of not making his hero a stalker. Muthu is a progressive man, who waits for his woman's consent. That said, Gautham, who has co-written the screenplay with Jeyamohan (who has also written the story), doesn’t flesh out the firebrand character of Paavai he perhaps envisioned. Siddhi Idnani's struggling performance pulls down the relationship drama further.

The director’s love for Mani Ratnam is in full display. The scene where Muthu warns Paavai (Siddhi) about his unsafe, and unpredictable profession and asks her to think twice about their marriage is a hat tip to the famous Rajinikanth-Shobhana scene in ‘Thalapathi’ (1991). The pond is replaced by a beach here.

In another scene, Paavai takes offense when Muthu talks about marriage with her parents without taking her opinion, just like how Shakthi (Shalini) confronts Karthik (Madhavan) in the train for the same matter in 'Alai Payuthey' (2000). The final nod to Mani Ratnam is in an absolute fan boy style from Gautham as the plot enters the ‘Nayakan’ universe. The small moment is sure to bring the roof down.

Simbu is the soul of ‘Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu’. He carries the face and body language of a man who hates what he is doing. Simbu internalises the pain of an accidental criminal who is always regretful of taking lives. A similar character trying to break the shackles is masterfully performed by Niraj Madhav.

The template of a small-town man getting sucked into the criminal world isn’t new. Gautham reinvents it and he has a great partner in crime in Simbu. It’s a great combination.