Never mind if it is inspired from a french film Sleepless night,"Thoongavanam" has enough grit and pulp to keep you hooked to its 2 hours and 10 minutes running time.A dark thriller with a pulsating background score(Ghibran, take a bow please), interesting camera angles,swashbuckling and near realistic action sequences in spite of tried and tested formula story.Not to forget the neat and fabulous performances by the entire cast.The happenings mostly in a night club/pub over 24 hours when a drug deal gone wrong meets with a ransom over a child's life and the one man rescue mission conducted by our leading protagonist to save the skin of his only son are rivetting.Trisha and Kishore as the cops in pursuit of Kamal Hassan add new dimensions to their performances.Prakashraj is irresistable in his almost scenery chewing role while Sampath and Asha Sharath along with Yuhi Sethu exercise the right amount of dignity and restraint in their smaller roles.Even MadhuShalini who gets to liplock our leading man looks gorgeous in a near blink and miss part.Kamal on his part effortlessly slips into the role of an agonized father and mean machine on a mission role.The director allows other actors breathing space even in the more crucial scenes.The action shots in the kitchen in particular are topnotch.
Thoongavanam is meant for fans who enjoy dark noir thrillers and are seeking a quality product with a difference.Director Rajesh Selva delivers for sure and with Kamal at helm of affairs.