Thanal aims to blend gritty thrills, intense revenge, and moral conflict through Atharvaa’s rookie cop and Ashwin Kakumanu’s haunted antagonist. Despite strong visuals, a well-built climax, and some powerful performances, the film gets weighed down by misplaced subplots, romance that adds little, and tonal detours that sap its urgency. A promising premise that slips into mediocrity.
Story and Theme
Thanal opens with a bold premise: a high-stakes police encounter in slums, followed by a shadowy figure exacting revenge on officers tied to that event. As night falls, Atharvaa’s character—one of several new recruits—is thrown into a maze of danger when a routine patrol turns into a fight for survival. Layers of backstory emerge, including a betrayed soldier turned criminal, moral dilemmas inside law enforcement, and corruption. The film tries to explore how pain and ideology shape both hero and villain.
Despite this, the central narrative loses cohesion. Flashbacks intended to deepen the characters instead interrupt momentum. The romance track and family subplot feel tacked on rather than organically tied to the thriller backbone. Social commentary surfaces late and feels more like tying up loose ends than provoked by the story’s core.
Performances
Atharvaa carries much of the film’s weight. He brings earnestness and grit as a rookie caught between duty and chaos. In contrast, Ashwin Kakumanu’s antagonist is more compelling—his menace, brooding intensity, and emotional scars give the film its best moments.
Lavanya Tripathi’s role is underused; the romance lacks stakes and often drags pacing. Supporting players like Shah Ra, Lakshmi Priya, and others contribute textures and occasional relief, especially when the film shifts from build-up to confrontation.
Direction, Pacing & Tone
Ravindra Madhava’s debut shows flashes of promise. Moments when Thanal leans fully into its chase, its tunnels, its deserted settlement settings—the film grips you. Cinematography captures the dark geometry of maze-like spaces effectively. Night scenes and production design elevate the visual texture.
Yet there’s tonal confusion. Scenes flip between brooding thriller, romance, comedy, and social message, sometimes without smooth transitions. Two major flashbacks break focus rather than deepen it. The pacing stalls mid-film, as the narrative pauses for romance or exposition instead of pushing tension forward.
Technical Aspects: Visuals, Sound & Music
Visually, Thanal earns its stripes. The cinematographer uses lighting and framing to magnify dread, especially in tight, shadowy corridors. The deserted housing board, the tunnels, the night patrols—these settings are well-rendered and immersive.
Editing, however, sometimes falters. The soundtrack and background score support intensity, especially in climactic moments, though interspersed lighter musical cues or silences aren’t always handled consistently.
What Works & What Doesn’t
What Thanal does right are its best scenes: when it keeps things simple, intense, and urgent. The antagonist’s reveal, the final showdown, the chase in maze-like terrain—all resonate because they lean into suspense. Atharvaa and Ashwin’s face-offs generate tension.
On the downside are the padded romance, the forced comedic bits, and bursts of social messaging that feel inserted rather than grown from conflict. These elements drain the build-up. The moments when the movie “stops to explain” rather than letting tension simmer are its weakest.
Verdict
Thanal is a movie with ambition and some seriously good parts. But ambition doesn’t always translate to coherence. There’s enough in Atharvaa’s earnestness, Ashwin Kakumanu’s undercurrent of rage, and the film’s visual craft to keep you invested some of the time. Yet the unnecessary detours in tone, romance, and backstory pull it down overall. It flickers with potential, and for many viewers it might be watchable once. But it rarely rises to the top tier of Tamil thrillers.
Bullseye Rating:★★½ (2.5/5 stars)
Thanal is currently in theatres.
