Kanguva review: Suriya-starrer has great ideas, but sub-par ...

Kanguva movie review: Director Siruthai Siva's Kanguva, starring Suriya and Bobby Deol, has great potential. However, sub-par execution and incoherent writing bog down the film.

Kanguva movie review: Suriya's film is a below-par action fantasy drama that aims for the skies.

It’s been nearly two and a half years since Suriya had a big theatrical release. With Kanguva, Suriya and producer KE Gnanavel Raja made tall claims about the film’s success even before its release. While Gnanavel claimed that the film would rake in Rs 2,000 crore worldwide, Suriya went all out in promoting the film. But, has the film lived up to the massive expectations that the team set for themselves? Let’s find out!

Kanguva’s story connects the past and present in two parallel timelines. Francis (Suriya) is a bounty hunter in 2024. He meets a child who reminds him of his past. A thousand years earlier, Kanga aka Kanguva (Suriya), a prince of the tribe, is facing one conflict after another. His village, Perumachi, is under threat from Romanians who want to conquer and rule them.

Not just the Romanians, but another clan, led by the menacing Udhiran (Bobby Deol), joins forces and poses a threat to the village of Perumachi. Soon, the battle between the clans turns into a battle between the two leaders, Kanga and Udhiran. How Francis of today is connected to Kanga forms the crux of the story.

Director Siruthai Siva’s Kanguva is an ambitious attempt. The filmmaker’s idea to blend past and present within the realm of commercial cinema shows his mettle. In a little over two and a half hours, you can see Siva’s streaks of brilliance in the ideas incorporated into the film. However, these ideas are not fully explored and remain underdeveloped, much to the disappointment of the audience.

Kanguva is a below-par action fantasy drama that aims for the skies. Sadly, it falters long before it even takes off. The initial 20 minutes of the film, which features the present-day portion, is truly a test of patience. Neither the so-called comedy lands nor do you get a sense of what’s going on. It also feels like an Instagram reel, where famous memes are part of the film, seemingly added to appeal to a younger audience. The film picks up pace when the period portions kick in.

It is here that the film tries to capture your attention. In hindsight, Kanguva draws its core inspiration from SS Rajamouli and Ram Charan’s Magadheera. But what Magadheera achieved by going all out is what is missing in Kanguva. The film’s screenplay is incoherent and messy. In one scene, Suriya’s Kanga gets stabbed. A scene later, you see Kanga standing atop a pile of bodies.

Another important scene featuring Bobby Deol’s Udhiran mourning the death of two of his closest men is gripping, yet the film fails to let such moments breathe. Another major drawback is the inconsistent use of slang in the period portions. While the characters initially speak in ancient Tamil, they soon switch to colloquial Tamil, and this lack of uniformity in language pulls you out of the experience.

Suriya is the pillar that saves Kanguva to an extent. His earnest acting, whether in action or emotional scenes, does all the heavy lifting. Bobby Deol is underutilised in a film like Kanguva. A change in his lens, slo-mo shots, and head tilts do not make him menacing. He tries to fit into the character, but there’s only so much he can bring to it. Disha Patani has little to do in a film where lesser-known supporting actors get full-fledged action sequences.

Kanguva is also one of the loudest films you could watch in theatres. From Suriya and Redin Kingsley to Bobby Deol, every character’s decibel levels are too high. On top of that, Devi Sri Prasad’s music and thumping background score make you yearn for a moment of silence. You might even hear the film’s music long after the credits roll.

That said, Kanguva looks beautiful on screen, thanks to lensman Vetri Palanisamy’s stunning visuals. The contrast between the worlds of different clans and the overall mood is well captured.

Kanguva is truly a lost opportunity for a film with such ambitious ideas. Had Siva delved much deeper into Kanga’s background, his family dynamics, and focused more on the period portions and the power struggle among the five clans, it could have been a much more effective film. Sadly, many filmmakers today are bitten by the sequel bug. Here, there’s a cameo that hints at a sequel. But does every film need a sequel? That is a question every filmmaker should ask.