'Tegimpu', produced by Boney Kapoor, was released in theaters today. Here is our review of the latest box-office release.
Plot
Dark Devil (Ajith Kumar) is a bank robber who embarks on a heist in Vizag's Your Bank. Its owner (played by John Kokken) is a shady entity with skeletons in the cupboard. Obviously, Dark Devil is the good guy in the scheme of things.
Why is Dark Devil executing a ruthless heist? What is with the Rs 25,000 Cr stashed in the bank's premises? Why is an evil cop (played by Ajay) after him? Answers to these questions are found as the story progresses.
Post-Mortem
In a pre-release interview, director H Vinoth made it clear that 'Tegimpu' (titled 'Thunivu' in Tamil) is a multi-genre film and not a pure bank heist film. A superstar film has to be a multi-genre outing in India and it is understandable. But 'Tegimpu' turns out to be a bad multi-genre film and that's the issue.
The story is set up in an unintelligent manner. We get to know that it's going to be about the hero's crusade against a mega financial scandal. And the resolution is not entertaining at all. It takes forever for the film to reach the point where the protagonist directs his energies toward teaching the bad men the biggest lesson of their life. And that lesson is a Puri Jagannadh-esque idea, complete with slapping around on live TV.
One is invariably reminded of 'Sarkaru Vaari Paata' while watching the movie. Mahesh Babu's film took up the case of bad debts perpetuated by influential industrialists and politicians. 'Tegimpu' enters a grey territory where stocks and mutual funds are brought into the equation. The selfishness of loan agents and how middle-class people lose their savings to stock exchange scandals have been shown in an unconvincing manner. It's also a big question as to how many can relate to the issue.
Ajith's contemporary Thalapathy Vijay's 'Mersal' railed against GST. His 'Kaithi' and a few other movies railed against corporates/Cola companies. The politics of 'Mersal' wouldn't have struck any chord with the audience had it not been for the controversy surrounding the dialogues against GST. The makers of 'Tegimpu'/'Thunivu' must hope for some controversy, actually!
The action scenes are underwhelming, failed as they are by editing and saved only by Ajith. The superstar's unconventional acting is the crowning glory of the film. Ajay (as a corrupt cop), Manju Warrier, Samuthirakani (as Commissioner) and others don't leave a mark.
Ghibran's background music and Nirav Shah's cinematography are strictly average. Director H Vinoth, in a pre-release interview, said that his stories hardly have space for songs and that's why he doesn't want to force-fit them. At least two songs in this movie are simply outrageous. They must be removed for the Telugu version.
Closing Remarks
'Tegimpu' makes for a hard time. At 146 minutes, the film is too long. Almost everything about the movie is either average or mediocre.
