Movie Name: Kanguva
Rating: 2.25/5
Cast: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patni, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley and others
Director: Siva
Produced By: K. E. Gnanavel Raja, V. Vamsi Krishna Reddy & Pramod Uppalapati
Release Date: November 14th, 2024
Suriya is returning to big screens in a full-fledged role after more than 2 years. He was last seen in the action thriller Etharkkum Thunindhavan. While he appeared in some cameos in Vikram and Sarfira, fans have been yearning to see him in a full-fledged action role. With Kanguva, the Kollywood star is looking to break into the pan-India league, and while the scale of the movie and the promotional content look perfect for this job, we need to see whether the movie can appeal to the audience. Let’s find out if Kanguva managed to excite the viewers or not.
Story:
Francis (Suriya), his ex-girlfriend Angela (Disha Patani), and Yogi Babu are bounty hunters based in Goa. During one of their assignments, Francis and his group encounter Zeta, a child on the run. Zeta and Francis experience an odd bond with each other. How are Francis and Zeta related? Why is Zeta running and from whom? Who are Poruva & Kanguva and what’s their relation with Zeta and Francis? This is what the story explores.
Suriya, as always is the heart and soul of the movie and does a terrific job, particularly in the warrior role. He looks natural and inspiring in the Kanguva look and carries the action sequences with great ease. His performance as Francis is quite routine and we have seen him in that role several times. Suriya as Kanguva is the show stealer and does an extremely convincing job. Disha Patni has no substantial role while Bobby Deol looks menacing. Unfortunately, his role as Udhiran is not strong enough and neither did Siva extract any strong performance from the Bollywood actor. The rest of the cast including Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, Kovai Sarala have nothing major to contribute.
Analysis:
Kanguva managed to create massive buzz when the first teaser dropped. Suriya’s look, the world around him, and the ferocity and intensity of the characters indicated that the audience would witness something extraordinary. While the world of Kanguva looks terrific due to great production values and authentic sets, the lack of emotions and poor writing choices completely bring down the tempo. Kanguva does have some exciting sequences but barring these few episodes, there isn’t much for the viewers to look forward to. The film takes its own sweet time to get off the mark and the first half might test the viewer’s patience and that’s never a good sign. Post interval, the film goes for a nosedive due to the poor execution of Siva, lack of engaging sequences and some illogical writing. All in all, what promised to be a visual spectacle on paper ended up as a missed chance.
Positives:
- Suriya as Kanguva
- Production Values
- Film’s basic premise
Negatives:
- Slow narration
- Dull screenplay in the second half
- Lack of emotional connect
- Background Music by DSP
Verdict:
What promised to take us into a world of fantasy and adventure ended up being a huge disappointment. Kanguva shows great spark at periodic intervals but that spark soon fizzles out due to dullness in the screenplay and some questionable choices by the director. Overall, Kanguva is grand but the writing and execution let it down completely.
