Kanguva - Movie Review

The much expected and hyped Kanguva feat. Actor Surya released on 14 Nov. amidst much fanfare. Will Kanguva be the saviour for the Tamil Box Office in 2024 is yet to be seen. The film will release in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and over a dozen foreign languages worldwide. 

Produced at an estimated budget of INR 300 – 350 Cr by Studio Green and Directed by Siva, known for his hatrick success with 3 back-to back films feat. Actor Ajith Kumar, this socio-fantasy drama is a thriller that doesn’t let down one’s expectations, neither is an edge-of-the-seat thriller that one wishes to see in Indian cinema.

As the movie begins, a young boy escapes from a lab under mysterious circumstances and is being chased by the security guards. He boards a moving goods train. 

The film begins in 2024 where Francis Theodore (Surya) and Angelina (Disha Patani), ex-lovers are bounty hunters helping the Goa Police to nab notorious criminals. The film opens with a beach party where everyone is seen dancing, drinking and having fun. 

The song “YOLO” brings up much cheer for Surya’s younger fans at theatres with a fantastic cinematography by Vetri Palanisamy along the Mandovi river.

Francis kills a local criminal, which is seen by the boy who has now escaped by train to Goa. The two feel an innate connection with each other but are unable to express their feelings.

Cut to 1070 AD (yawn!!) and the story moves at a snail’s pace for the next 1 hour. There are five islands inhabited by people of various races. The Romans wish to conquer this region and involve the locals for the same. 

One of the villagers who agrees to work with the Romans is found guilty to be a traitor and is burnt alive in front of the entire village, while his wife jumps in to his pyre. Kanga (Surya) decides to adopt their kid as his own son.

Thereafter, a series of narratives go on, until Udhiran (Bobby Deol) decides to finish the entire village to avenge the death of his two sons.   

Kanga fails to save the young boy in his fight with Udhiran and is dropped in to the deep ocean to the sharks. The boy is the same one who returns in 2024.

Director Siva has tried too hard to connect the two stories set a thousand years apart, but is unable to build a strong narrative and the plot weakens all the way through to let go of the screenplay down the drain at the end of 2.5 hrs.

In the pre-climax, we have a surprise entry by Karthi, (Surya’s brother) as the surrogate son of Udhiran who avenges his father’s death to Kanga. In 2024, he is the boss of the lab and the makers reveal that there is a sequel which will arrive soon. 

The movie ends somewhat abruptly after Francis flights the guards atop a freighter aircraft in which they are taking back the young boy.  

Rockstar Music Director Devi Sriprasad joins Surya after a decade (Singam 2) and all the songs are passable. The BGM is extra-loud at several instances and match the loud dialogue deliveries by several members of the cast.

Will Kanguva be nominated for Oscar Awards is to be seen. But will the movie make a mark on the actor’s 3-decade career, certainly yes.

The hard work that Surya has put-in speaks volumes when we see the film in the big screen. 

Be it the nuances of his reactions, the body type that he has built, and his dialogue delivery is top-notch, though he pronounces tamil words quite badly at several places. Wish these could have been corrected during dubbing.

Director Siva has always been known for a wonderful script and screenplay and does’t disappoint us one bit. But for a fantasy film such as this, one could only feel that he should have collaborated with newer ilk of writers, to avoid his monotony.

There are several breaks in the storytelling at many places which are glaring. Wonder how he gets away with this each time (Veeram / Vivegam / Annaatthe). 

Surya’s effort to take up such a subject during the peak of his career is noteworthy. That most of his previous films have been a dud is another thing. 

Wishing good luck for the effort that the entire crew has undertaken.