Thegidi

Investigative thrillers are always a treat to watch. Unfortunately in Tamil cinema we don't have much movies in that genre. 'Thegidi' falls under this list satisfyingly as it takes the audience, an one hell ride filled with some twists and turns. In order to clear things up, this is not like 'Sherlock Holmes' but a simple and realistic crime thriller. Its all about connecting the dots by overlooking the small things which was not noticed on the first sight. Just like a novel the twists and questions unfold by raising the question 'What next?'. Ashok Selvan as a fresher detective fits perfectly. The scene where he shows his observation skills to his Professor, adamant about not using mobile phones, hesitating to fall in love with his case subject - this guy knows how to act! Janani Iyer looks beautiful and thankfully her role is very much realistic. Standing apart from stereotypic acting she stands tall as a perfect next door girl. Jayaprakash as a senior cop delivered a fitting performance. Director Ramesh has to be applauded for choosing the title as 'Thegidi' which literally means 'gambling'. Here he tried to convey up to which extent, some people will go just for the sake of money! He tried to make the movie as serial as possible and avoided all commercial elements except the romance portions. Music by newbie Nivas Prasanna boosts up the thrilling mood perfectly. The tension grows up during the interval block by the sudden turn of events and the music fuels our heart beat perfectly. His re-recording makes even the normal scenes as a pulsating one! Cinematographer Dinesh Krishnan experimented several different angles and it worked out well for a thriller movie. Editing by Leo John Paul is sleek and to the point as the movie runs for just 2 hours. Telling the whole story in the starting credits itself is a surprisingly new idea.

Ratings : 4/5 ! Must watch ! Miss it at your own risk !

Pros : Plot,Execution,Screenplay,Acting,Editing,Excellent Background score ! Cons : Nothing big but dialogues could have been a bit better.

Hindu : Thegidi-License to thrill ! India Today : Must watch thriller.

First of its kind movie in Tamil cinema with Hollywood style making and handling yet again from new artists.Technically sleeky and cool ! Perfect screenplay and a clean movie without any unwanted elements. Acting is flawless ! Ashok selvan(Lead) is yet another rising star ! (another guy's acting as his friend is worth mentioning). Background score is Excellent and well synchronized with the mood of the movie and songs are perfect.

Its for people who like movies (rather than actors or actresses). Finally Worth every penny you spend !

Bottomline : Experience the freshness of this flawless quality film

Rocking movie !

It is quite different from your average Tamil films, it was well written and actors performed very well! If you looking for a good mystery film, I would definitely recommend it! To add on, the music are fantastic as well!

What attracted me to watch Thegidi on the first day was its brilliantly made trailer suggesting it to be a gripping detective mystery flick. And once i realized it was under CV Kumar's banner i was glad to have chosen to watch this movie for the man has trend-setting movies in his track-record.

Thegidi opens with our hero Ashok Selvan (Vetri in movie) (whose voice reminds me of a young Suriya ,although looks wise he resembles Kohli when frowning nd Rahane when smiling :D )receiving an offer in a detective firm after graduating in criminology(thank god not an engineer :p)He then passionately goes about his detective work collecting all the information about his subjects (who have all been men thus far :p)And when his next subject is Janani Iyer (Madhu in movie)he breaks his protocol of not to get close to his subject in order to set a previous misunderstanding straight with her. A love sequence follows via 2 songs but thanks to the wonderful music, beautiful vocals by Sathyaprakash and Abhayjodhpur, thanks to the captivating eyes of Janani Iyer nd the natural acting by the leads,this sequence moves breezily nd just when the sailing goes smooth director P Ramesh brings a dramatic twist from which the speed of the movie really takes off ! Revealing any further would do disservice to first time watchers and hence explicit synopsis ends here.

The 2 sequences leading to the interval fills the viewers with tension nd the thrills that such a genre ought to do nd the icing on the cake is Nivas K Prasanna's scintillating background score ! Post interval , a major difference in this script as opposed to any other movie of this genre is to reveal whose the hunter (which due to the limited characters in the movie,cant be concealed any further anyways) but to keep the motive of the hunter as any body's guess and trust me no guess will hit bulls-eye because the motive in this movie is a fresh yet alarming one due to its possibility of being a true one in our real life !The clues for the headhunter is cannily sprayed throughout the movie but will be again difficult to guess until the very end. The movie although has an open ending (again whose clue was there to be seized by a keen observer) making room for an intriguing sequel.

Apart from the lead casts performance and music , dialogs too deserve a special mention be it the ones used in during Ashok's hiring , or be it Janani Iyer's introduction scene citing eye to eye contact , or be it switching a call from mobile to Pco to prevent tapping all showing immaculate attention to detail thats been put in by the crew. Editing was crisp; a run time of 2 hours is a testimony to that so does a single climb up the stairs shown in multiple shots. DoP shows his mettle in a scene where Ashok tries to break into a house. Another special mention is the Nambi character played so naturally serving as a comic relief and not to forget Jayaprakash (he is in 90% of movies nowadays nd yet seems to show considerable variation in each of his characters ! kudos to the veteran)in an enigmatic role !

Verdict : Just like how Goli soda is the mass entertainer of the year (beating the biggies that released earlier in the same genre ) ,Thegidi is the movie to beat in thriller genre for the year ! :D a parable for the umpteenth time reminding us that the content ,more than star power or budget, is the real King :)

Detective thrillers and mind game plots are a rarity in Tamil cinema. Now with the arrival of new-gen filmmakers, Tamil cinema audiences are slowly witnessing such genres. Debut director Ramesh's Thegidi falls under such a rare genre. Does he succeed in it? Read on to know...

Vetri (Ashok Selvan) is a criminology student and he gets a job as a detective in Chennai. Being passionate, Ashok does his job with his whole- heart and soul, his agency is also impressed with his efficiency in handling various subjects. When Ashok is asked to handle a case of Madhu Shree ( Janani Iyer) ,both starts loving each other.

After sometime, Ashok comes to know that some of his previous subjects are murdered by unusual accidents. What happens next? Why all the previous subjects handled by Ashok are in danger? Does Ashok saves Janani ? Well, to know the answers you have to watch Thegidi on the big screen...

Debut director Ramesh takes his own time in the first half for establishing various characters and also to convey the basic theme to the audience which is fine and no big complaints about the pace. Coming to the second half, the film travels in a good pace and the twists are well sketched and narrated. Taking the direction part into consideration, Ramesh must be lauded for his brilliant effort.

Coming to the casting, Ashok Selvan has given a fair performance, but what is really missing is the energy level and the expressions. In Pizza2, Ashok's character is of a novel writer and his subtle expressions justified the role. But for a thriller like Thegidi, the tensed expressions of the lead characters have to create the impact to the audience. In Thegidi, Ashok has underplayed, probably a fine tuning of his expressions and energy levels should have done wonders.

Janani Iyer has given an adequate performance and essayed her role of a girl next door with so much ease. The romance portions between Ashok and Janani are also quite natural, which must be appreciated.

Kaali, who acted as Ashok's friend has done a commendable job and his subtle one-liners evoke some good laughter. The other characters like Jayakumar, Pradeep Nair have done a good work. Just like any other recent films not to forget Jayaprakash who is brilliant as an Inspector.

Technically the film is sound- be it the title card edit, cinematography and the music- everything is well-jelled in the film. Newbie Nivas Prasanna is a welcome addition to the promising list of music directors in Tamil cinema. His BGM works are also quite laudable.

Overall, Thegidi is a fair mind game, which is sure to have to grab your attention.

Rajasekar S, Cinemalead.