HITLER (Tamil) review

Writer and director Dhana was the Chief associate director for Ponniyin Selvan 1 & 2 after making his directorial debut with Vaanam Kottatum which Dhana had co-written with his mentor, Maniratnam. One would therefore expect that, Hitler, Dhana’s second film as director would adopt modern sensibilities with strong characters and a clipped screenplay. Unfortunately, the ill-named film follows a formulaic approach that dilutes the impact of a compelling story.

The film stars Vijay Antony in the lead role opposite Riya Suman, supported by Gautham Vasudev Menon, Yesteryear actor Charanraj, Redin Kingsley, Vivek Prasanna, Sriranjini and special appearances by Kavithalaya Krishnan and Aishwarya Dutta.

Selva (Vijay Antony) arrives in Chennai and imposes on Karukkavel (Redin Kingsley) to share his accommodation. Shortly thereafter, Selva crosses paths with Sara (Riya Suman) and, predictably, romance blossoms between them. In what appears to be a parallel track, Deputy Commissioner Shakthi (Gautham Vasudev Menon) is tasked to investigate three murders. He soon uncovers the link between the murders and the upcoming elections. Events take a turn when these two narratives merge.

The first hour of the film is incredibly painful to watch because of the unhurried pace of the screenplay and protagonists that are very difficult to identify with. The character of Sara (Riya Suman) seems to have been modelled on Dushara Vijayan’s character in Natchathiram Nagagirathu – Rene, and succeeds in being annoying without the charm intended. Vijay Antony looks equally uncomfortable in the role of Selva as he was with his new look. Surprisingly, Gautham Vasudev Menon makes the most imposing presence in the film in his role as Deputy Commisioner, Shakthi. Redin Kingsley is only marginally better than his other roles of late while Charanraj fails to impress.

Music by my favourite duo, Vivek-Mervin is very disappointing. The background score has moments of excellence in an otherwise forgettable performance while the songs are svere breaks in the already slow narrative.

I Naveen Kumar’s cinematography is unimpressive in the first half, but there are some isolated brilliant shots in the second half that show that he has great protential.

Dhana has taken uninteresting characters and plopped them into a clichéd setting of crooked politicians in a power struggle that keeps the audience well detached. In a film where the best acting performance comes from Gautham Vasudev Menon, there clearly was not an emphasis on acting performances in this film. There are some twists in the narrative, but these come far too late and are presented in the same detached way.

Hitler simply does not match the current standard of filmmaking in Tamil cinema and scores 4 points out of 10.