Kanguva REVIEW: Suriya’s stardom is not enough to save you from this noisy & over-the-top non sense actioner

Film:
Kangava

Director: Siva

Writer: Siva, Adhi Narayana

Cast: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, Natarajan Subramaniam, Kovai Sarala, Vatsan Chakravarthy, Anandaraj, KS Ravikumar

Run time: 154 minutes

Platform: In theatres

Kanguva Review

Spanning across two timelines, Kanguva – written and directed by Siva, fails to live up to the expectations and hype the film’s trailer and songs created. This revenge fantasy actioner (which also dabbles on the topic of reincarnation) follows two storylines – the story of Kanguva and his fight to keep his people safe from Udhiran (Bobby Deol) set in 1070 and the story of Francis – a bounty hunter, who forms a connection with a mysterious boy and is hell-bent on saving him in 2024. The film – with its many dramatic and emotional parallels, falls flat in actually telling a story that is immersive and has substance. Read my honest Kanguva review to know if you should head to theatres to watch this Suriya starrer.

Suriya and Bobby Deol in a still from Kanguva

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Suriya and Bobby Deol in a still from Kanguva

What Works

Suriya’s performance as Kanguva, a couple of high-octane action sequences in the second half, the art and cinematography.

What Doesn’t Work

Almost the entire 2024 storyline – the cringy dialogues, Suriya’s performance as Francis, the super loud BGM that makes the dialogues inaudible and Bobby Deol’s expressionless face.

Technical Analysis

Story

Written by Siva and Adhi Narayana with dialogues by Madhan Karky, Kanguva fails to impress. While the 2024 storyline will make you cringe with it dialogues, the 1070 narrative is complicated and needs 200% of your attention to comprehend (as the BGM at times overpowers the dialogues.)

Taking about the film’s story, the Suriya-Bobby Deol starrer is essentially an epic fantasy drama that tells the story of Kanguva – a fearless warrior who lived in 1070 and fought tooth and nail to keep his people safe – be it from European invaders or the brute Udhiran and his sons who rule the neighbouring island nation. It also tells the story of Francis – a bounty hunter from 2024 who resides in Goa and forms a bond with a mysterious child who witnessed him committing a murder. Who is this child, why are their fates intervened, do Kanguva and Francis manage to keep those close to them safe and how deadly is Bobby’s character is what makes up the storyline of the film.

Direction

Siva has disappointed fans with Kanguva – there’s nothing more to add to this. The director has failed to remain consistent in capturing the emotions of the characters and making all the actors deliver to the best of their capabilities.

Suriya in and as Kanguva

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Suriya looking deadly in and as Kanguva

Cinematography & Sets

Cinematographer Vetri Palanisamy deserves a round of applause for hitting the bullseye when it comes to capturing the aesthetics of Kanguva – especially in the 1070s. The forests, the seas, the thrones or the villages, Vetri has ate and left no crumbs.

Kanguva Music

Devi Sri Prasad has done a commendable job when it comes to the music of the Suriya-Bobby Deol starrer. While the album has variety and something for everyone, the background score is too loud. It’s so over the top that it’s impossible to hear the dialogues and understand what a character is saying.

Editing

Nishadh Yusuf, could you have cut the film down by a couple of minutes? It’s not your fault, but the story is boring and slow that it seems like we were in the theatre for three 3 and then the interval comes. PS: Kudos on the editing when it comes to switching between timelines.

Bobby Deol in a still from Kanguva

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Bobby Deol in a still from Kanguva

Kanguva Star Performances

Suriya’s performance as Kanguva is one of the only saving graces of this film. The actor has given his 150% to the role and that is more than evident from the way the actor has brought the character to life – be it the mannerisms, the emotions in his eyes, the dialogue delivery or the love he has for his people. While Suriya was as impressive as Kanguva, the same cannot be said for his performance as Francis. The Tamil star’s loud performance and cringy dialogues, paired with an atrocious hairstyle, will leave you with a sour taste.

While many will say Bobby Deol was underutilised in this film – which he is, the ‘Animal’ actor is also seen with an expressionless face on more than one occasion. Having watched the Hindi version, Bobby’s dubbing too seems off and emotionless at times.

Disha Patani once more has a small role (despite being the female lead) and is yet again seen flaunting her exquisite figure in bikinis, crop tops and shorts. Yogi Babu manages to make you cringe instead of laugh courtesy of his desperate attempts to be funny. The child actor is not bad and managed to leave an impression with his performance in both timelines.

Given the loud script, the other actors have also failed to impress as their acts either seem too over-the-top or fall flat in conveying the necessary emotions.

Conclusion

If you are a Suriya fan, do go for it as the actor has given his 100% to playing Kanguva and that’s clearly visible. But if you aren’t a fan of the actor and only plan on watching it for a grand cinematic experience – please, give it a major miss. The truth is, the narrative is slow, over-the-top and all over the place and will leave you with a headache as you try your level best to understand the dialogues over the blaring background music.

Check out the trailer of Kanguva here:

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