Thangamagan

12/30/2015

When the trailer of Thangamagan was released, it immediately brought to mind his " Velaiilla Pattadhari" (VIP) with its shot collage of domestic life and masala heroism. " Thangamagan" has all that but these moments feel like a watered down version of what we had seen in the previous film. The film plays on the middle-class male fantasy of young men wanting to be a caring son, a charming boyfriend, a loving husband, and a hero for the family. There is a scene where the protagonist Tamizh (Dhanush, playing the guy-next-door for the umpteenth time) and his friends are watching "7/G, Rainbow Colony" — a film that so successfully tapped into this fantasy — and the screen fills up with the words 'A film by Selvaraghavan'. It is Dhanush rightly acknowledging the influence of his brother. But the