Director Siva and his team have apparently put in a lot of effort to offer Kanguva as a breathtaking, majestic film, featuring a mix of high-octane fight scenes and emotional drama. It is their attempt to take audiences to two different worlds, set in two timelines a thousand years apart.
Seasoned Tamil actor and industry veteran Suriya plays the protagonist, portraying both a bounty hunter in the present day and a barbarian-like warrior from a thousand years ago. Kanguva makes a strong attempt to inject soul-stirring emotions into its larger-than-life visuals and characters. However, despite the impressive CGI, stunning visuals, and the star power of actors like Suriya and Bobby Deol, the film was, for me, at times difficult to follow.
What stood out was the overzealous attempt to insert larger-than-life battles and visually stunning scenes in almost every frame. The tension could have been built up gradually before each action portion, allowing the audience to truly appreciate the impact when the battle finally unfolds. However, in Kanguva, the fighting and chaos never seem to end. The movie looks good in parts, but when you piece it all together, it is somewhat of a different story.
The Story
The scenes in Kanguva move back and forth between two different timelines. In the present day, Suriya plays Francis, a bounty hunter who, by chance, encounters a strange-looking boy who has escaped from a Russian research lab that enhanced the boy’s brain abilities. This reminded me of the movie Lucy, in which Scarlett Johansson’s character gains enhanced brain capacity after being drugged. Anyway, in Kanguva, our boy is connected to Francis through a past-life link. The film then takes you back to ancient times, where Suriya portrays a barbarian warlord named Kanguva. He is presented as the son of a tribal chief in an ancient land involving five islands, which reminds me of the tribal people in Avatar and evokes memories of the Kalakeya in Baahubali.
The film primarily focuses on how Kanguva becomes a savior to the boy, protecting him from enemies. It also presents the events that connect them emotionally, bound by fate, across lifetimes. Director Siruthai Siva has a wonderful premise, but the problem with Kanguva lies in how some of the elements fail to come together as a final product. There seemed to be forced song-and-dance numbers in the present-day scenes featuring Francis and his ex-girlfriend, Angelina (played by Disha Patani). The comedy involving their respective partners, played by Yogi Babu and Redin Kingsley, is not something we haven’t seen before.
Breathtaking visuals and an overload of battle scenes
Kanguva is visually stunning. The scenes set in ancient, fairy-tale-like locations are well executed, thanks to art director Milan and cinematographer Vetri. All the sweeping, mega-scale battles, both on land and at sea, are lively and immersive. The set design is simply superb. A lot of effort has gone into the minute details about the tribal people and their practices. The quality of the fight scenes and action choreography is solid. But the problem is that from start to finish, there’s no end to the war cries and battles. That is how too much of a good thing causes boredom. The action scenes and battles, featuring the roars and screams in the film are excessive and could have been offered in rationed quantities to maintain audience interest. The film tries hard to inject stylish, cinematic ‘wow’ moments into every frame. But it ends up being too much to digest all at once.
The film’s progression towards the climax feels stretched out. It appeared like a never-ending mix of wars and struggles, including the sudden appearance of a CG crocodile, which accomplishes a nice poster opportunity for Suriya. The film’s sound was high on decibels from start to finish and offered no respite for the audience’s ears, especially with plenty of Suriya’s signature roars. The sound forced me to plug my ears at some point towards the end to avoid a headache, and then, I couldn’t follow the dialogue.
Actor Performances, Characters
Kanguva heavily revolves around the emotional connection between the eponymous tribal hero and the little boy. The father-son-like bond is well portrayed, but it’s never allowed to fully develop into poignant, impact creating moments due to the nonstop action that consumes all your attention. Impressive as always, Suriya delivers a standout performance, playing both the modern-day Francis and the fierce, tribe-loyal Kanguva with great dedication. The only annoying aspect is the repetition of screams and roars, but that can be excused to some extent, as I have heard that tribal men are known for their loud and vociferous disposition. Again, the volume could have been checked for better effect. Quite a bit of Suriya’s good work in the film is sadly spoiled by the ear splitting sound.
It looked as if Disha Patani was signed up merely to break into a dance number with Suriya. She also appears in some not-so-laugh-worthy comedy with Yogi Babu and Redin Kingsley. Bobby Deol, playing the antagonist Udhiran, shines in a character that has a striking resemblance to the fearsome Kalakeya chieftain from Baahubali.
Kanguva does well when it highlights human bonding, loyalty — or on some rare occasions the lack of it — in the ancient tribal world. What’s sad, however, is that some of the characters come and go. They don’t have time to develop and strike a chord emotionally with the audience, as one action scene makes way for another, again and again.
Music and BGM
Rock star Devi Sri Prasad impresses with songs and BGM. One number that was really touching is Mannippu—a song about forgiveness—which I felt was quite special. It would have been even better if the score had a gradual buildup towards the high-octane fight scenes rather than staying loud throughout. Nevertheless, when it comes to effectively highlighting the emotional moments in the film, DSP, I think, has done well.
Conclusion
Kanguva is a film that has been made with huge hopes and ambitions. The mega 300 crore-plus budget magnum opus comes with breathtaking visuals and an overload of well-shot battlefront scenes. Yet, one feels that the storytelling, sound, and audience engagement could have been even better. Also unfortunately, some of the popular actors who have been roped in have little opportunity to really play a striking role in the film.
Overall, Kanguva does well as a visual and high-octane Baahubali-like extravaganza. You can, in spite of its minor flaws, enjoy it if you are looking for a good time pass movie to watch with your family. I personally feel it is definitely worth checking this out in 3D at a theater near you for the sake of its visuals, Suriya’s hard work, and, of course, all the action which is meant to be watched on the big screen. Also, with the cameo appearance of Suriya’s younger brother Karthi in the climax, the makers have given signs that sequels may be on the way. I wish them all the best!
Photo Credit: Kanguva The Movie on X
Movie: Kanguva
Direction: Siruthai Siva
Cast: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Redin Kingsley, Yogi Babu
Rating: 2.5/5
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