Cast: Bobby Simha, Madhu Bala, Sathish, Ramya Nambeesan, Shathiga, MS Bhaskar, Bose Venkat, Delhi Ganesh, Livingston, Sanjeev
Direction: John Paul Raj (JPR), Sham Surya
Production: Seatoa Studios, Muthu Dream World (Distribution)
Music: Jakes Bejoy
Genre: Action, Crime Thriller
Language: Tamil
Version: 2D
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Censor Certificate: U/A
Plot - Agni Dev (Bobby Simha) is an anti-crime officer. Aruna (Shathiga), a news channel reporter gets murdered in front of the public. Agni Dev proceeds the investigation of this case and he is very near to solve the case. But, an innocent guy gets framed as the murderer due to the pressure from Minister 'Shakunthala Devi' (Madhu Bala). What's her involvement in this case and how Agni Dev tries to bring out the truth forms the crux of the story.
Positives
Bobby Simha (both real and dupe) has given his best for the character 'Agni Dev'. Madhu Bala plays the antagonist role, in which she has justified it decently. Shathiga's character plays an important role in setting the conflict of the film. Sathish, Ramya Nambeesan and other supporting actors have done their part well. Jana's cinematography work looks good in most of the portions. Deepak's editing work looks simple and neat, without any abrupt finishes. Jakes Bejoy's background score helps to elevate the suspense factor in a few portions. There is only a small song in this film, which has been placed in the climax portion. Other than that, there are no songs in this film, which is a good relief for the audience. On the other side, the film's duration is also very short, which is also a great advantage. The directors JPR-Sham Surya have taken a usual crime thriller script, based on one of the novels of 'Rajesh Kumar'. They have followed the pattern of 'Nungambakkam - Swathi Murder' in the crime scene. They have dealt with the few political contents through Madhu Bala's character. The screenplay looks good in the first 20 minutes.
Negatives
The directors have rushed in completing the film, which is clearly seen in each and every scene of the film. So, the establishment of the crime scene, the investigation process and the revealing of the culprit fail to create an impression. The writing of the characters is not stronger. The voice given for Bobby Simha doesn't gel well with his body language. As Bobby Simha said, a dupe has been used for him and they have tried to match it up with VFX works. This gets confirmed in the interval block fight scene and the pre-climax fight scene. Only for an extent, Madhu Bala has managed her level best to play the antagonist role convincingly. At a point, her performance looks like over-acting. So, our interest shown in her negative role will get completely reduced. Towards the climax only, Bobby Simha and Madhu Bala get a chance to share their screen presence together. In a phone conversation scene, the director tries to show the power of both protagonist and antagonist, through some counter dialogues between them. But, it ends up as a childish conversation only. The director fails to balance the present and flashback portion properly, which creates a small confusion in a few portions. The CG works could have been better. For a crime thriller, the screenplay execution plays a major role in creating curiosity among the audience. It should be in a very engaging way, which doesn't make the audience diverted from it. When it comes to screenplay execution, the first half is somewhat better. In the second half, the screenplay has been executed in a disappointing way only. So, the screenplay execution for this crime thriller is not all convincing. The climax portion has a small twist, but it looks like force fitted. Without that twist, the director could have tried up something. But, the twist he used doesn't create a surprise.
Verdict
'Agni Devi' is a below average crime thriller, in which the screenplay execution is not all interesting. The directors' rush to finish the film, without proper writing is the main reason behind it. So, we will come out of the theatre with great disappointment only. This film deserves 'watchable once' category just for a time-pass. Watch it without any expectations.
Cut Short Rating - 5.2/10
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