Etharkkum Thunindhavan Movie Review: In Etharkkum Thunindhavan, Suriya plays Kannabiran, a lawyer who stands by the side of justice and protects the innocents. At home, he is the doting son; especially to his mother Kosalai (Saranya Ponvannan, in a role that she can, by now, play in her sleep). And in the eyes of Aadhini (Priyankaa Arul Mohan), his love interest, he is like Murugan. In short, he is more or less an avatar, and without straining too much, director Pandiraj establishes the myth of his protagonist. The plot takes this idea forward with Kannabiran trying to protect the dignity of women.
The evil man who is doing the ‘disrobing’ here is Inba (Vinay Rai), a central minister’s son. Inba and his gang exploit unsuspecting young women in the name of love and shoot videos of them in sexually compromising positions, and later use the videos to blackmail the victims, a clear allusion to the Pollachi sexual assault cases. When Kannabiran saves Yazhnila, Aadhini’s friend, Inba decides to target the lawyer and threatens to leak hidden cam videos of 500 women if he doesn’t give up Yazh.
At the plot-level, Etharkkum Thunindhavan pretty much moves along on predictable lines. But, like he did with his films like Vamsam and Kadaikutty Singam, Pandiraj roots the characters with very specific backgrounds, which lends some freshness. Kannabiran lives in Thennaadu, a region that cherishes women. Inba belongs to the neighbouring village Vadanaadu, whose men marry the girls of Thennaadu.
But what elevates this generic masala movie is the progressive nature of its idea. It is definitely a good thing to see a star vehicle that sends the right message when it comes to women empowerment.
The film is also aware about the greyness of vigilantism and extra-judicial killings. It shows us Kannabiran using the judicial route to get justice and only when all doors are closed does he take up the law in his own hands.
