Thoongavanam

''Thoongaa Vanam'' () is a 2015 Indian action thriller film directed by Rajesh M. Selva. The film stars an ensemble cast including Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj, Trisha Krishnan, Kishore, Sampath Raj, Guru Somasundaram, Yugi Sethu, Aman Abdullah, Asha Sharath, Madhu Shalini and Jagan. It was filmed simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu languages, the latter titled ''Cheekati Rajyam'' (). Both versions were produced by Raaj Kamal Films International and Sree Gokulam Movies. The film is a remake of the French film '' Sleepless Night'' (2011).

''Thoongaa Vanam'' was released on 10 November 2015 coinciding with Diwali while the Telugu version ''Cheekati Rajyam'' was released on 20 November 2015. The film received positive reviews from critics. This film marks Trisha's 50th film and completes her 15 years in the industry.

Plot

C.K. Diwakar is an IRS officer in the NCB, who along with his deputy Mani, steals a narcotics shipment but gets stabbed in the process. In retaliation, Vittal Rao, a drug lord, who was due to receive the shipment, kidnaps Diwakar's son Vasu. He is willing to release Vasu if Diwakar can return to him the bag of cocaine that he stole earlier. With no other option at hand, Diwakar agrees and proceeds to Vittal's nightclub, with the bag of cocaine, where Vasu is held hostage. His act of hiding the bag in the men's toilet is noticed by NCB agent Mallika, who becomes suspicious. Thinking that Diwakar is involved in drug smuggling, she informs her superior Dhiraviyam.

Dhiraviyam begin to pursue Diwakar, taking away the bag of cocaine from the toilet in the process. When Diwakar realises that the bag of cocaine has gone missing, he decides to return to Vittal a bag containing packets of milk powder instead, thinking that he and his cronies, including a gangster named Pedha Babu, will not realise the difference. Unfortunately, Vittal and Pedha soon find out that Diwakar had cheated them and decide to kill him. Diwakar's wound gets worse and starts bleeding. Caught between Vittal's gang on one side and Mallika and Dhiraviyam on the other side, Diwakar confronts Mallika and tells her that contrary to her suspicions, he has been working undercover and had planned the entire operation to expose cops such as Dhiraviyam and Mani, who are involved in drug smuggling.

Diwakar then rescues Vasu without Vittal's knowledge, and Vittal is also arrested by Mallika and Dhiraviyam. While taking Vittal to prison, Mallika finds out that she has Mani's mobile phone, and on reading the messages in it, she finds out that Diwakar had been speaking the truth all along, realising that Dhiraviyam and Mani are involved in drug smuggling and had tried to frame Diwakar. Though Dhiraviyam tries to resist arrest, killing Vittal in the process, he is eventually brought to justice. Diwakar falls unconscious due to the constant bleeding of his wound and Vasu takes him to the hospital. Diwakar recovers. Three months later, Mallika is now Diwakar's deputy, and the duo is shown thwarting the attempted murder of a police officer.

Cast

Production

Pre-production

Kamal Haasan announced that his next project, a bilingual thriller titled ''Thoongaa Vanam'' in Tamil, would be directed by his former assistant Rajesh Selva and produced by himself. The film was initially titled as ''Ore Iravu'', before going through a change of title. Haasan added that the film would be shot simultaneously and with the same cast and crew as ''Cheekati Rajyam'' in the Telugu language. Sanu Varghese and Shan Mohammed were named as the cinematographer and editor, respectively, while Ghibran was recruited as the film's composer, working on the fourth successive Kamal Haasan film. Writer Suka was chosen to write the Tamil dialogues, while Abburi Ravi was assigned to work on the dialogues for the Telugu version.

Kamal Haasan was reported to be play CK Dhiwakar, an Indian Revenue Service officer in Narcotics Control Bureau. Trisha and Prakash Raj were the first actors to be cast and reported to play the female lead and an important supporting role respectively. While Prakash Raj was said to portray a drug dealer named Vital Rao, Trisha's role was Mallika, a police officer. In June 2015, Asha Sarath, was announced as part of the cast. Uma Riyaz Khan was signed for an "important role" and Kishore informed that had been selected for a "key role" in the film. In June 2015, it was reported that Madhu Shalini was part of the film and had starting filming, while Sampath Raj was also added to the cast. Sampath's character was revealed to be that of a local gangster called Pedha Babu.

Filming

Following a photo shoot at the AVM Studios on 20 May 2015, the film was officially unveiled on 25 May in Hyderabad with the release of the first look poster, after which principal photography began with a schedule at the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. The filming was completed in 38 days by August 2015.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album for ''Thoongaa Vanam'' composed by Ghibran, features only one song, "Neeye Unakku Raja" in the heavy metal genre, written by Vairamuthu and sung by Kamal Haasan, with backing vocals by Yazin Nizar and model-turned-singer Aishvarrya. The song was released on 7 October 2015. The Telugu version of the song named "Dhairyam Veedi" written by Ramajogayya Sastry was released, on 3 November 2015.

Reception

''Thoongaa Vanam''

Gautaman Bhaskaran of ''Hindustan Times'' gave the film a rating of 4/5 stars, calling it "an absolute slick crime adventure". Latha Srinivasan of ''Daily News and Analysis'' gave 3.5/5 stars mentioning Thoongaa Vanam as a slick, well-made film that takes you through the course of happening over one night to the police officer and appreciated Rajesh Selva for directing a film that broke from the regular Tamil films. They also appreciated the performance of Kamal Haasan, Trisha and Ghibran for the excellent background score.

Rating it 3/5 stars, S. Saraswathi of ''Rediff'' appreciated the performances of the lead cast as well as the film's technical aspects but criticised the lack of pace in the film's screenplay before concluding "the intriguing plot, good performances, Ghibran's innovative background score and camera angles of Sanu Varghese make director Rajesh M. Selva's worth a watch." M. Suganth of ''The Times of India'' also rated the film 3/5 and wrote, "even though the film cleverly spreads the action across various areas in the club ..it isn't enough to shake off the feeling of claustrophobia. By the time the film gets over, we feel exhausted." Karthik Keramalu of ''IBNLive'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "Actors move in and out of rooms, run this way and that, plot and fail, hide and seek. Yet all the effort of the cast and crew is shaken and not stirred enough as the screenplay gets a few nods wrong."

Baradwaj Rangan, writing for ''The Hindu'', stated that the film picks up in the post-interval portions "the kitchen-sink action choreography, the sounds of things breaking and clattering, the bursts of background score, the jittery camerawork", concluding the film as "an okay thriller", but criticised Rajesh Selva for not giving the output to the dazzle of Brian De Palma films. ''Sify'' described the film as a "classy thriller that gives an edge of the seat ride with world class action sequences and no-nonsense execution!". Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj, Sampath Raj, Kishore and Trisha were appreciated for their performances, while they concluded mentioning about the technical aspects like music, action, editing and camera work that gave an edge to the film.

''Cheekati Rajyam''

Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of ''The Hindu'' stated, "though the film isn't really exceptional, makes for an engaging watch". She also mentioned the performance of Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj and Trisha as good, concluding the film as a stylish cop drama as attention is paid even to little details of the film making.

Box office

The film grossed over ₹50 crore worldwide. Its box office shortcomings were attributed by journalists to the 2015 South India floods.

References

External links

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{{Rajesh M. Selva

2010s crime action films
2010s Indian films
2010s Tamil-language films
2010s Telugu-language films
2015 action thriller films
2015 crime thriller films
2015 films
2015 multilingual films
Fictional portrayals of police departments in India
Films about child abduction in India
Films about cocaine
Films about corruption in India
Films about drugs
Films about hostage taking
Films about human trafficking in India
Films about kidnapping in India
Films about police corruption
Films about the illegal drug trade
Films about the Narcotics Control Bureau
Films directed by Rajesh M. Selva
Films scored by Ghibran Vaibodha
Films with screenplays by Kamal Haasan
Indian action thriller films
Indian crime action films
Indian crime thriller films
Indian multilingual films
Indian remakes of French films
Tamil-language action thriller films
Tamil-language crime thriller films
Tamil-language Indian films