Thirunaal movie review: Jiiva is the surviving grace

Director: Ramnath

Cast: Jiiva, Nayanthara, Sarath Lohitaswa, Joe Malluri, Karunas

After few average outings, Jiiva, one of the finest natural performer returns with a bang with Thirunaal and he teams up with his E co-star Nayanthara after a long gap.

Set at the backdrop of Kumbakonam, Blade (Jiiva) is an orphan and a loyal henchman of Naaga (Sarath Lohitaswa) who indulges in nefarious activities and also has a weakness for women. Vidya (Nayanthara) is a kindergarten teacher and daughter of Naaga’s business partner (Joe Mallury) and often dreams of marrying Blade. An incident brings them together and the inevitable happens–yes romance blossoms between the two. 

When the parents of Vidya come to know of their daughter’s love affair, they disapprove of it and also decide to relocate to Tanjavur. Naaga cheats Vidya’s dad of twenty lakhs, which the latter has invested as his share in the business. Now enters Blade who wants to turn a new leaf in life for his ladylove. At a certain point, Blade realizes that Naaga is misusing him for his personal gains. A twist in the story begins the battle between him and Naaga .

Jiiva has given a rock solid performance.  With his apt looks combined with perfect body language, Jiiva pulls the role of a rowdy with effortless ease. One wished that director Ramnath could have etched Jiiva’s character in a better fashion. His onscreen chemistry with Nayanthara is enjoyable. Nayanthara looks good and performed well. Though she has been projected in a role much younger to her real age, it shows at times.  Sarath is adequate as a villain and the much-hyped Neeya Naana Gopinath’s cop role does not create any impact. His portions are disjointed. Ramadoss comedy works to some extent.  Meenakshi who has been reduced to a vamp serves the purpose of titillating frontbenchers with her skin show.  Ramnath could have avoided too much of blood and gore and the usual obscene item number.  Some of the dialogues are creditable.

Elsewhere, Srikanth Deva’s music is good and Mahesh Muthusamy’s cinematography is just about adequate.  Though Thirunaal suffers from clichéd rural theme, had the director concentrated on a consistent racy screenplay, the film would have been an engaging affair.