Kavan movie review: Cleverly takes a dig at media that runs after TRPs

Director: KV Anand

Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Madonna Sebastian, T.Rajhendar, Akashdeep, Vikranth, and Bose Venkat.

If ace KV Anand had a photojournalist as the lead guy and weaved an interesting story, here in Kavan the protagonist is substituted with a television journo. He has taken a relevant social issue and packaged it nicely with commercial elements with the help of his regular writer duo Subha and the new entrant Kabilan Vairamuthu.

Thilak (Vijay Sethupathi) is a socially conscious person and an unsuccessful docu-filmmaker. On his way to attend a job interview in a leading TV channel

Zen 1, owned by fraudulent media mogul Kalyan (Akshdeep), he manages to capture the riot outside the channel, which is apparently doctored by the latter against a local politician Dheeran Maniyarasu (Bose Venkat). Impressed by the exclusive footages, Kalyan offers him a job and there he meets his ex-girlfriend Malar (Madonna) and a romance is rekindled. All seems well for Thilak initially until one day he realizes that the channel is more interested in sensationalizing news and raise their TRPs in a bid to increase their revenues. He is unable to digest this.

In the meantime, Malar’s friend Kalpana (Dharshana) and along with her boyfriend Abdul (Vikranth) protests against a chemical factory (owned by Dheeran), which ruins the agricultural lands in the vicinity. As a result, Kalpana is brutally raped and injured by the goons of the politician. Thilak wants to expose the dirty politician but Kalyan clips his attempts.

Later when Thilak gets a chance to do one-on-one live interview with Dheeran, he wants to teach them a lesson. Instead of asking questions from the pre-prepared script, Thilak probes him with his own set of queries. He is thrown out of the channel and along with him Malar and a few others quit their jobs. They join Mayilvaganan (T.Rajhendar), an honest man who struggles with a failing TV channel. How the young team uses their brain and brings down the influential Kalyan and debunks his TRP driven channel forms the rest.

The ever-charming Vijay Sethupathi does his job to utmost perfection. His natural flair for comedy combined with his earnest attempt, Sethpathi is a treat to watch. Madonna Sabasatian fits the bill. T. Rajhendar in a full-length role-plays to his strength with his rhythmic lines. Bose Venkat proves that he is a man of substance, given a suitable chance. Akashdeep as the stylish antagonist impresses. Pandiarajan and Jagan do their part well. Vikranth in an extended cameo does a neat job.

The film moves at a rapid pace during the first half and is highly engaging and entertaining taking a dig at the TV channels as how they manipulate everything from reality shows to news to awards to get their TRs high. The interval block between Sethupathi and Akashdeep is a scene to watch out for and is captured well.

Kudos to the sharp dialogues! For example this one mouthed by Vijay Sethupahi– ‘Kelvi dhaan mukkiyam-nu nenaikkaravan katthi katthi keppan; badhil dhaan mukkiyam-nu nenaikkaravan medhuva keppan’.

Post interval, the script loses its focus and as a result the tempo comes down. Hip Hop Tamizha’s BGM is good and songs are just adequate. Abhinandan Ramanujam’s visuals are vibrant.