Taanakkaran Movie Review: Vikram Prabhu's Social Drama on Police Training Malpractices is Gut-Wrenching in Places (LatestLY Exclusive)

Taanakkaran Movie Review: South cinema of India has now got a formula when it comes pointing out pertinent social issues that are system-oriented. Just go back in history and find a relevant event, set the film in that era, create a hard-hitting saga and then expect the viewers to realise that not much has changed in our society since then for the common folks. This leaves the current system with their hands tied. We have had films like Jai Bhim, Sarpatta Parambarai, and now we can add Taanakkaran to that list. Tamizh's film, starring Vikram Prabhu in the lead, goes back to 1997 allegedly inspired by a real incident there and raises issues that are important to acknowledge this day - the unfair practices that are still happening in the law & order system. Taanakkaran Trailer: Vikram Prabhu, Anjali Nair’s Tamil Movie by Tamizh To Arrive on Disney+ Hotstar on April 8!

If Jai Bhim called out police atrocities against minorities, then Taanakkaran reminds you that even they are also victims of a crooked system that refuses to be fair. Taanakkaran begins with a prologue teaching us some history about how the British, after the first War of Independence, decided to train the youngsters to become police officials, many forcibly at that. They are disciplined into rigorously following orders, to not form camps, mistrust each other and turn into groups of well-oiled parade marches. Even after the British left, the film tells us that like many laws and reforms of the goras, we still retain such Draconian measures in our training methods.

Movie then shifts the story to 1997, when Arivu and his batchmates come for their induction in a PRS (police recruitment school). Arivu is a morally upright, well-educated youngster who is determined to become a cop to live upto his father's wishes. His batch also has trainees who are in their forties, who passed their recruitment tests back in 1982 but only got their joining letter 15 years later. This batch is immediately met with the strict, brutal methods of the trainers there, many of whom are annoyed with the over-aged recruits. Particularly, Eswaramoorthy (Lal), a hardliner disciplinarian, whom even the senior officials are wary of.

Not all are bad, though. There is a trainer, played by MS Bhaskar, who has not been promoted for years for reacting violently against a casteist slur uttered by his now senior. Bose Venkat plays an officer who teaches the cadets law and he empathises with their plight. But there isn't much they can do, as the rest make sure that the squad is punished and then carved into constables. Particularly targeted are the older and the unfit candidates, and the righteous Arivu, who does a cardinal sin of questioning his seniors.

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Even the environs where the PRS is set feel cruel and harsh, from dilapidated buildings to grounds with sparse vegetation. Taanakkaran is hard-hitting when it comes to showing the methods meted out by the officials to treat their own future compatriots, from breaking them within and physically assaulting them, to the point that even deaths happen that get swept under the rug. You really feel for the recruits, some of whom have waited for years getting a government job.

Particularly haunting and disturbing is a scene where Arivu goes in the middle of the night to answer the nature's call. The camera follows him ominously as we expect someone from his batch would attack him for his rebel streak. That doesn't happen, though and how the scene ended gave me quite a shocking jolt. The movie also throws light on casteism that is rampant in the police system, as if naming the main antagonist 'Eswaramoothy' isn't a hint enough. The villains, however, feel very one-note, and lack complexity to be memorable though, with only Lal's character leaving some impact. A little exploration should have been done to understand if they are so because of the system that groomed them, or if they are corrupted by the power in their hands. Particularly cheesy is a dialogue when a senior official tells a honest cop that the entire system is Eswaramoothy, which pulls out the greys and push them into black zone.

While the pall of gloom refuses to leave the narrative, not helped by over-infusion of melodrama in certain scenes, there are also quite some massy sequences that do give you a reason to cheer. And two of such scenes are about parade marches.

Though, I believe that Taanakkaran could have been shorter in length to make those particular punches even more effective. The final forty minutes are easily the film's best portions. The ending, however, lives up to the nihilistic tone of the movie but it leaves you with a sense of hope. And also a couple of questions, like how did protagonist manage to achieve want he always want to do even when the whole organisation is against him? Also, nothing to do with the climax, but why did he not opt to go IPS in the first place, despite being an MA in Criminology?

A subplot that should have had no place in the film, is the love track between Arivu and Eswari (Anjali Nair), a female police official working in the PRS. It feels a very cliched track where the heroine is besotted with the hero, who doesn't reciprocate her feelings, and what's more, there is no proper conclusion to this track.

As for the performances, Vikram Prabhu is more of a mixed bag here. He grasps the body language and physicality of the character right, and is really good in the parade scenes. However, there are scenes where I felt his performances to be stiff, especially when he is reacting to certain incidents around him. Lal is highly effective as the despicable ADI, quite a far cry from his loveable turn as the mischievous uncle in Karnan. MS Bhaskar is excellent, especially in the emotional scenes. Bose Venkat has a very good scene in the climax.

Yay!

- The Hardhitting Treatment

- The Final Hour

- Lal

Nay!

- The Melodramatic Overreach

- The Love Track

- Villains are Mostly Cruel and One-Note

Final Thoughts

Taanakkaran may feel stagey and overlong in places, but it is successful in delivering a uncompromising saga of system malpractices within institutions that are supposed to protect us from the same. There are some very strong punches, even if those punches don't necessarily land a stronger conclusion. Taanakkaran is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 08, 2022 01:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).