Taanakkaran Review: Vikram Prabhu, Lal in a Somewhat Entertainer

Taanakkaran is a Tamil police-drama film directed by Tamizh and stars Vikram Prabhu, Lal, Anbuarasan, M.S. Bhaskar and Anjali Nair, alongside other cast members. The film has a runtime of 141 minutes.

Hotstar describes the movie as:

Spurred by his dark past, Arivu wants to become a police officer. However, his training instructor Moorthy may become a hurdle and shatter his dreams.

– Taanakkaran review does not contain spoilers –

Taanakkaran is a few things if nothing else. It’s dramatic and extremely crude. From the moment the movie starts, you are introduced to the various forms of cruelty within the police force – either with those training to become officers or the trainers themselves. Plus, apparently, trainers beating adults up and denying them basic human rights is common in the police force. At some point, the cruelty turns a bit Disney villain-ish, but hey, that’s the reality of the situation. No wonder police officers come out of this frustrated and angry at the general public.

Either way, Taanakkaran is watchable as heck. Apart from the dramatic violence, it makes you sympathise with the people going through this crap. It’s not like the movie does anything new – honestly, you get all the characters that you expect in a movie such as this but it works extremely well. If anything, these unlikeable and cruel characters make you want the protagonists to succeed even more.

The film’s weakest moments are the romantic scenes because they are simply unnecessary to the plot. But, honestly, as heavy as the film can be maybe that’s what’s necessary to cut through the heat. Apart from the romance, there are some light-hearted moments that will help you catch your breath for a minute. Don’t worry, right after that, it’s go-go-go.

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The real problem with the movie, unfortunately, is its runtime. Although it’s nothing new for Indian movies, it does get a bit underwhelming and repetitive after a while. There’s hope and fear and a host of other feelings throughout its runtime but it just gets a bit much after a while.

However, the performances are great and Vikram Prabhu and Lal totally play the part of officers on two opposite sides of the khaki rainbow. It’s interesting to watch since the actors themselves are so invested in the characters. Unfortunately, Anjali Nair doesn’t have much to do and unfortunately, she is mostly the only woman who gets some amount of screentime. Her role is quite small and she is sadly reduced to just the romantic interest. it’s sad to see the sex ratio in this movie as well as how “fat people are stupid” is a running theme. It’s almost embarrassing.

Summing up: Taanakkaran

At 2 hours 21 minutes, Taanakkaran is extremely dramatic with its cruelty but is an otherwise engaging watch. The cruelty drags on for too long and after a while, you start to feel a smidge bored with it, especially when it doesn’t deliver in the end. But regardless, it’s a fun watch.

Taanakkaran is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

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