Tamilarasan Movie Review: A sincere Vijay Antony is the heart of this otherwise messy, inconsistent drama

If you didn’t know earlier, Tamilarasan has music by Ilaiyaraaja. The makers aren’t satisfied enough to just say that in the posters, or as a mention in the credits. They decide to feature an entire montage sequence featuring the Maestro, and his composing process for Tamilarasan. We see the legendary composer with his fellow legends KJ Yesudas, and the late SP Balasubrahmanyam working on the songs. We see Sid Sriram sing a song about the pride of Tamil, and there are more shots of Ilaiyaraaja composing music as the opening credits inform us about the rest of the cast and crew. The makers are so caught up in celebrating the Maestro that they forget the importance of building up the mood for the film. Soon after the celebratory opening credits, we are thrown right into the proceedings... or we think. 

We are introduced to police officer Tamilarasan (Vijay Antony) and his love for cricket. There is a flimsy skirmish with senior officer Sonu Sood that threatens to snowball into something big. But then the film creates a bigger argument between the two inspired by the Thoothukudi police firing of 2018. Then, why waste time showing him play cricket, you may ask? As the world of Tamilarasan unravels in front of our eyes for the next 120-odd minutes, the narrative decisions give rise to many such questions. But we end up with hardly any satisfying answers. 

Director: Babu Yogeswaran 

Cast: Vijay Antony, Remya Nambeesan, Sonu Sood, Yogi Babu

Tamilarasan is an upright police officer, whose life revolves around his wife, and son. He is not cut out for the cutthroat world of the police system, and his wife believes he’d be better suited as a cricket coach. But then, his flora-loving son falls sick, and Tamilarasan needs loads of money to save him. What follows is one trainwreck after another, peppered with caricaturish performances, unfunny comedy tracks, laughable serious segues, and painfully one-note characters. It isn’t to say that there weren’t decent moments in the script, but the director decides to viciously pull down every high moment with a striking vengeance. 

The big nexus between corrupt cops, corrupt politicians, and money-hungry health sector professionals isn’t new to Tamil cinema. In fact, we have seen it in many films since Ramana, and Tamilarasan doesn’t offer anything refreshing on this front either. Even the only interesting factor about how insurance doesn’t always cover all illnesses isn’t explored enough, and it is just touched upon before the film goes into hostage thriller territory. There is nothing exciting that happens in these portions of the film. No one believes anything is going to happen to the hostages, and after a point, the hostages too don’t believe anything is going to happen to them. Of course, the hostages understanding the innate goodness of Tamilarasan’s crusade is important to the film, but the performances and the writing is so inorganic that there is hardly even one moment of sincerity. Also, Suresh Gopi plays a doctor, who is seemingly good, but the way he is presented is so ominous that we are waiting for him to be the proverbial twist in the tale. Also, when he goes on a monologue expressing his frustration of being a well-paid doctor stuck in the system, I got reminded of the famous Vijay Antony meme that says ‘Cha paavam la.’

Similarly, the way the villains in Tamilarasan transform into angels is laughably generic. Be it trigger-happy Sonu Sood, who has a thankless role and uses a sniper like a balloon-shooting rifle, or Sangita, who inexplicably plays a Padma Bhushan awardee without a bone of empathy, all it takes for them to become ‘good people’ is just one dialogue. Bam! They transform. Such inconsistent tonal shifts are just jarring, and the film suffers from not knowing when to play it subtly, especially in the ‘comedy’ portions. One can’t talk about unscrupulous organ trading in one scene, show a comedy scene surrounding it in the next, an emotional outburst soon after, and get back to another comedy scene. And the comedy isn’t funny at all, and nope, the ‘humour is subjective’ angle cannot be used here. Also, let's not talk about the lack of logic in many crucial scenes. Let's just not.

Despite the surmounting odds, there are few likeable moments in Tamilarasan. Points to the makers for using a song to establish the romance between the lead couple, instead of wasting time in meet-cutes. There are some smart dialogues, but they are bookended by some archaic exchanges. The highlight of the film is the emotional conversation between Tamilarasan and his son where Vijay Antony really convinces us of the sentiment, and the weight behind those dialogues. It was a beautiful scene even if everything leading to it, and what happens after it, doesn’t deliver the emotional heft it thinks it has.  

Tamilarasan begins with the makers revealing that the film is inspired by Nick Cassavetes’ 2002 film, John Q. The original, starring Denzel Washington, was a thriller that served as a commentary on the flawed nature of the American healthcare system. Despite working on the same premise, the lack of adaptation to the Indian sensibilities makes the commentary in Tamilarasan a mere footnote, and not remotely impactful. The original was no classic, but the remake doesn't really improve on it either. However, unlike a couple of older films in Tamil and Hindi that didn’t really bother crediting Cassavetes’ original, Babu Yogeswaran and Co have their heart in the right place, and do the right thing, even if they mess up a lot…just like Tamilarasan.