Koorman Movie Review: This thriller isn't just sharp enough

The human mind is a complex maze. It isn't easy to get to the centre of it all, but the protagonist of Koorman, Dhanashekar aka Dhana (Rajaji)is quite an expert in it. He is gifted with the ability to read people's minds, we can call him a mentalist of sorts, and imagine this power in a cop. Well, this is concept is just pregnant with the possibilities... but.

Director: Bryan B George
Cast: Rajaji, Janani, Bala Saravanan

When the film starts, Dhana is an ex-cop, who is devastated after a personal tragedy and is living a secluded life with his caretaker friend and pet dog Subbu, on a sprawling 12-acre farm. Even though he isn't with the police force anymore, Dhana occasionally helps them in important cases. He uses his mentalist skills to grill the accused and find out crucial information from them. Oh, wait... he also has an invisible companion.

Debutant director Bryan B George, who has also scripted the film, has employed the rarely explored theme of mentalism to bring in some novelty to what is otherwise a generic revenge thriller. Koorman begins with a striking photograph, which has a connection alluding to the cyclical nature of the plot. The narrative kicks off promisingly by taking time to establish the world of Dhana, and his state of mind. Watching a cop solving cases with legit mentalist skills is interesting, but the film fails to tread this path and instead settles to go by the templates. After an interesting buildup, the narrative loses steam thanks to a clichéd flashback and more uninspiring portions.

Koorman has an overdose of gratuitous violence, and we are shown to disturbing detail the multiple methods that are used to torture rapists and other accused. Even if the makers argue that all this is done by a person who is out of his senses, the camera's gaze isn't sensitive. It's nothing but torture porn. Also, I have a serious problem with films repeatedly villainising the sons of big shots in society. It's an age-old stereotype that's further reinforced here. A woman is subject to sexual violence, and guess who the culprit is... a typical rich brat (TRB), a leading criminal lawyer's son. In his very first scene, that TRB is seen molesting a girl in the washroom. In the next scene, we see TRB's father pampering him with a never-ending stream of resources. In another scene where the TRB is getting beaten to pulp, he says, "Eyy.. naan yaarunu theriyama kai vekra.. enga appa yaarunu theriyuma". It's funny how this dialogue gets repeated even today in the same modulation as it was in the 80s.

Coming to the performances, Rajaji, despite his earnestness, isn't really up to the mark. Dhana was too heavy a role for someone who is still finding his feet. The character carries with him a lot of emotional baggage and is deeply buried in grief. But Rajaji is found wanting in scenes that demand him to emote loud. With the film largely set in a single location, and Dhana's long silences, Janani's character also getting very few scenes, the makers desperately needed someone to communicate things to the audience. And that's done by the ever-chattering Bala Saravanan as Murugan. Till the point where it is revealed how he befriends Dhana, Murugan seems like the usual man Friday. But after that, we learn that the character had a lot more depth, which unfortunately the makers fail to explore.

In a nutshell, Koorman could've been a much sharper film if only the makers had steered clear of the clichés and had bigger ambitions. It did have its moments but then... do they really add up to offer a wholesome experience? Well, let me be as blunt as a butter knife and say... nope.