Thuppakki Munai movie review: All I want to tell Dinesh is a ‘good message’ doesn’t mean a ‘good film’.Thuppakki Munai movie cast: Vikram Prabhu, MS Bhaskar, Hansika Motwani
Thuppakki Munai movie director: Dinesh Selvaraj
Thuppakki Munai movie rating: 2 stars
Thuppakki Munai is the second film of Dinesh Selvaraj, a former assistant of Mani Ratnam, whose previous outing was Naalu Perukku Nalladhunna Edhuvum Thappilla. I kind of liked the film because of its treatment and writing. This one, I would say, wasn’t disappointing. At the same time, we weren’t offered anything particularly great — in terms of content or execution.
Vikram Prabhu plays Birla Bose, a Mumbai-based encounter specialist, who shot 32 criminals dead. His name sounds more interesting than the actual character. But we don’t know why Dinesh Selvaraj named him so.
The film opens with the backstory of who Birla Bose is. This ‘serious’ encounter specialist is shown walking into a ladies’ toilet to nab the accused. (He doesn’t do it on purpose, mind you!) Bose meets Mythili (Hansika) again. A few minutes later, he proposes to her. Their “love episode” makes it to the headlines apparently. Because that is how (the director) thinks it is. Thankfully, there are no “cute romantic songs” in between.
I wish Dinesh had thought Mythili’s character was equally important to the film. I think he forgot her completely while writing the script.
On the other hand, the protagonist’s mother calls him a ‘murderer’ because ‘he kills people mercilessly’. Bose (read Vikram Prabhu) neither cries nor shows emotions on the face. But he believes every bullet he fires bear his name. (Commercial cinema, no? Thus!)
Bose gets suspended but joins the duty on request to trap Azad, ‘a Bihari Maoist’ (Mirchy Sha), who is allegedly accused of raping a minor girl in Rameswaram. What happens eventually forms the rest of the story.
Though Thuppakki Munai attempts to discuss child rape and the situation of migrant workers, Dinesh’s thoughts fail to translate on to the screen. (I am sure it must have been convincing on paper.) The director appeals to “legalise prostitution” towards the end. So, if it is legalised, the ‘reported’ rape cases will drop? I don’t know. I really don’t know.
All I want to tell Dinesh is a ‘good message’ doesn’t mean a ‘good film’. In one of the scenes, Bose lectures a guy “not to take a woman to deserted places”, so that the couple doesn’t ‘invite trouble’. Enough of the moral science classes already!
But MS Bhaskar was terrific as a doting father. Thuppakki Munai would have made for an engaging watch if Dinesh had explored more the angle of migrant labourers, their lifestyle and so on.
