Movie Review 'Bhooloham': The story will get your adrenaline glands flowing

CAST: Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Prakash Raj, Nathan Jones

DIRECTION: Kalyanakrishnan

RATING: 3 Stars

Bhooloham is a boxing film that delivers because it doesn’t try too many things at the same time. Directed by Kalyan and starring Jayam Ravi, what you get out of the film is a boxing match that is packaged in a sleek and strait-forward manner, meaning you probably will not be bogged down by superfluous romances and forced comedy that is so part and parcel of many Kollywood flicks.

Set in North Chennai, the commencement of the film features a clash of clans theme: two heavyweights from different boxing families and tradition namely Naattu Marundhu Vaithiyar and Irumbu Manithar Rasamanickam are shown duking it out in the ring. This boxing niche and tradition in the region gives an opportunity to a businessman named Deepak Shah(Prakash Raj) to cash in and host competitions for his sports channel.

Thus enters Bhooloham (Jayam Ravi) and Arumugam (Rajesh)- two boxers who have had a tradition of boxing in their families. Bhooloham is initially all for competition and being the utter best at what he does: which in turn means knocking his opponent out and even beating him dead, as he has reasons to do so. But mutatis mutandis - by making the necessary adjustments in his thinking, Bhooloham realizes the pain and suffering the other family would have to undergo if he really were to follow through with his plan. And in the meanwhile, business and money comes first to Deepak, who nonetheless prods Bhooloham to face his opponent. And the winner of this round goes on to face the worldwide super heavy weight, Steven George (Nathan Jones.)

Bhooloham has numerous similarities to boxing matches made in Hollywood. It climaxes into an epic fight scene, where the intensity of the moment washes away all other nit-picky considerations a story can take. This aspect of the film is sure to be a hit with the crowd. It would fill one with energy and adrenaline. So, given how this story climaxes into a grandiose face off, there’s no choice for the star Jayam Ravi than to completely put aside his preferences and do what the character says. And in this regard, he delivers big time. Be it his fitting physique, body language, delivering the Chennai slang faultlessly, Ravi simply is astonishing. In addition, Nathan Jones as his opponent doesn’t need to change much from his strongman real life persona. His actions are natural and even comic at times. Then there’s this cute looking educated girl Trisha who helps her lover Bhooloham with scientific techniques and her character is added merely for a bit of glam quotient. Prakash Raj as usual scores in a negative role. Ponvannan and Shanmugarajan are adequate. While Sathish Kumar’s cinematography is authentic, Srikanth Deva’s songs are just average and background score could have been better.

A few shortcomings aside, Bhooloham is a refreshingly fun and entertaining watch. The movie will definitely get your adrenaline glands flowing. Watch it for Jayam Ravi’s extraordinary effort!