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Thennavan
Director: M Nandakumaran
Cast: Vijayakanth, Kiran, Nasser, Urvasi, Ravichandran, Vivek
 He may play the cop most of the time, deviating now and then to play a professor, a district Collector or the Chief Election Commissioner. But at the end of it all, the act boils down to some aggressive postures, fist fights, flying kicks and giant leaps in the air. Looking overhill, lethargic and distracted, Vijayakanth seems to have exhausted all his acts in his new film.
The opening scenes depict the birth of Thennavan amidst political turmoil. His mother killed in the political tussle, Thennavan is the baby miraculously rescued from her womb. A special boy who would do wonders in the future, or some such thing, predicts a know-all. But of course, anyone who's seen the actor's earlier films don't have to go far to know what those wonders would be!
Back to the story, it's Thennavan the bright little boy cross-questioning the teacher and getting reprimanded; Thennavan slightly older, asking more embarrassing questions and irritating his teacher. And then, suddenly in a giant leap forward in time, it's Thennavan the IAS officer, appointed by the government as the new Chief Election Commissioner.
Thennavan comes to Tamilnadu to conduct the elections. With all the hype built around him about his tenacity, honesty and guts, one waits for the new CEC to make some sensible moves. But apart from the five-point agenda (an intelligent touch here), we see Thennavan using his fists and legs more than his brains and sensibility. And if he's not having his street-style fights with Chief Minister Ilanthiraiyan (Nasser), with the latter too matching him with his own crude acts, he's being relentlessly wooed by
Divya.
There are more 'dream-duets' here than in other Vijayakanth films, the latter desperately trying to match strides with the energetic Kiran. Incidentally, what initially attracted the new CEC to Divya was her energetic, bouncing dance on top of the running train in which the duo were traveling. The camera, of course, faithfully capturing all of Divya's shakes and jumps!
 There's the Rabri Devi angle too. The CM indicted in a case, has his naïve wife Pushpalatha (Urvasi) substituting in the CM's seat. A chance for the inimitable Urvasi to bring in some laughs here, though it takes the narration further downhill!
A Vijayakanth film normally has some good stunt scenes. But here, even that is missing. With his unsightly hairstyle, and a new style of dialogue delivery which seems to give him some trouble, Nasser cuts a pathetic figure. Vivek has his own comedy track, tries in vain to integrate it with the main plot, coming out good in a couple of scenes. Like the one where he rattles off in a sing-song voice the names of the various political parties, and gets a fit at the end of it all.
As for the debutant director, he seems to have seen some earlier Vijayakanth films - all the wrong ones - and taken his inspiration. And as for the hero, unless Vijayakanth does some serious rethinking, he's likely to lose the slight edge he has over his contemporaries.
Malini Mannath
Published on 22nd Aug, 2003
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