Pathu Thala Movie Review

Filmmaker Obeli N Krishna (Sillunu Oru Kadhal, Nendunjaalai fame) directorial ‘Pathu Thala’ stars Silambarasan TR and Gautham Karthik in the lead characters. The film is a remake of Kannada movie ‘Mufti’, and has an ensemble star cast comprising Priya Bhavani Shankar, Anu Sithara, Gautham Vasudev Menon and many others. AR Rahman has composed music and Farooq has handled cinematography for this movie.

Set against the backdrops of Kanyakumari, the film revolves around an undercover agent (Gautham Karthik) crawling into a mafia group headed by AGR (Silambarasan) to know the whereabouts of missing Chief Minister (Santhosh Prathap). What unfolds next is a series of unexpected twists and turns.

The original MUFTI completely banked its trust on the content, and Obeli N Krishna has attempted making the same with some alterations to suit the fan base of STR and the Tamil audiences. What was so intriguing about the original version was the powerful casting that helps in retaining the intensity without the presence of protagonist. In contrast, we slightly feel that it is missing in the Tamil remake. Of course, Gautham Karthik does a decent work, but his characterization should have been more powerful. Priya Bhavani Shankar is just okay. Manushaputhran fits well for the character. Gautham Vasudev Menon tries to deliver a good show, but his character looks little feeble. It’s Silambarasan TR show all the way, and he carries the entire film on his shoulders. For the ones, who haven’t watched the original version, his arrival by intermission might test their patience, but then, he starts ruling the screen throughout the second half.

The last 30 minutes has lots of drama including twists, surprises, emotions and sentiments. The change in climax is a good treat for the Silambarasan fans.

AR Rahman’s BGM is literally amazing in few places, but the film doesn’t have scope for songs.
Cinematography is appreciable and the sleek editing is neat and crisp.

Overall, Pathu Thala offers a decent package of entertainment for both Silambarasan fans and general audiences.