Gangs of Madras Review
Star Cast : Sai Priyanka Ruth, Daniel Balaji, Ashok, Velu Prabhakaran
Director : CV Kumar
CV Kumar’s debut film as director Maayavan, a sci-fi action adventure was an quite impressive one. The core idea of his sophomore film Gangs of Madras is a woman-centric revenge drama told against the backdrop of Chennai, which is neatly executed.
Gangs of Madras begins with the African proverb ‘The axe forgets,the tree remembers’ and immediately, we are introduced to the world of young Jaya who is aggressive and bold as she takes on revenge on a boy who bullied her a few months back. So taking revenge is Jaya’s birthright!
Jaya (Sai Priyanka Ruth) is now a young woman, and she falls in love with her college mate Ibrahim (Ashok) and she even converts to Islam to marry him as her family strongly opposes their relationship. Life goes well for Ibrahim and Raziya (Jaya’s new name) till the former joins as an accountant in Rowthar (Velu Prabhakaran)’s factory. Rowthar is an underworld gangster who spearheads the cocaine distribution business from the drug lord Lala.
Ibrahim’s urge to become rich provokes him to take extra risk and he loses his life in a brutal shootout executed by the cops. Raziya who comes to know that it was Rowther and his sons who are responsible for her husband's death wants to take revenge. Raiza goes to Mumbai to meet Rowthar’s rival Boxy (Daniel Balaji) and learns martial arts, defense, and attack mechanisms only to kill Rowthar and his sons.
While Vetrimaaran’s Vada Chennai talked about how Andrea takes revenge against the gangsters who brutally killed her husband. CV Kumar’s protagonist mostly uses brawn and attacks her foes directly. Priyanka Ruth (a la Uma Thurman in Kill Bill) as a calculating vigilante protagonist is expressive, and she is fantastic as Raziya. The scene where she kills two cops on the road at interval block is top class. Velu Prabhakaran (director of Kadavul and many other controversial films), as Rowthar the menacing old villain is excellent. Rest of the cast is adequate.
No review of Gangs of Madras can be complete without a mention of its violent scenes and few scenes are way too gruesome. Raiza’s journey into the violent world of gangsters feels too convenient. Technically, Karthik K Thillai has captured the blood bath without much compromise and delivered an imposing work. The film could’ve easily trimmed by ten to fifteen minutes. Background score by Shyamalangan is pulsating and perfectly retains the mood for a gangster film but the songs (Hari Dufasia) are strictly average.
Overall, Gangs of Madras for the most part, keeps you on your toes, curious to see where its twists and turns will lead.
