Movie: Gethu
Direction: Thirukumaran
Cast: Udhayanidhi Stalin, Amy Jackson, Sathyaraj
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Cinematographer: Sukumar
Editor: Dinesh Ponraj
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Rating: ∗∗
What is it about: It’s a thriller whose base plot is an assassination of a renowned scientist, who is about to create something which would change the course of security across the globe. It is directed by Thirukumaran, which has producer & actor Udhayanidhi Stalin in the lead along with Amy Jackson.
Why it’s disappointing: There are many factors which can be listed why “Gethu” became a disaster. The sad part is this story could have been a great hit if at all handled with caution. Unfortunately the makers put in their focus on visual appeal than the actual moolah which is screenplay and direction.
The movie starts off with a good note, but 5 minutes in to it starts to stumble on clichés, which were seen as a broken records in the 90’s. Sometimes it’s better to stick to something you’re good at and shouldn’t try hard to become someone who you’re not, if you’re wondering what is it about? That’s nothing but producer and distributor Udhayanidhi Stalin who is trying really hard to fit the bill of an actor, which with every film is getting worse. He definitely can’t act, or emote, or dance, or has a screen presence. It’s not about the looks, when it comes to an actor no matter how you look should be able pull of the character with ease. He was wooden and hardly can see him loosen up on screen.
Amy Jackson is actually a good actress but Kollywood is exploiting her skills by just making her an eye candy. She doesn’t fit the role of a Brahmin girl at all in the movie, but one good thing about her was the lip sync which has become way better than the previous Tamil films.
Wasting veteran actor like Sathyaraj in such petty roles. Followed by Karunakaran, who was used for a comic relief but the screenplay outplayed him. Vikranth’s character was a good one, but the characterization spoilt its outlook wasting another talent.
The movie has so many pot holes that I can’t remember them all. For instance Vikranth is supposedly a deadly assassin whose fee is in million dollars. But for an assassin of that calibre, fails to remove the flight baggage tag from his backpack. Also falls prey to a petty trick played by the lead.
The father-son sentiment scenes only brought sarcasm and sceptical comments from audience making it a joke. The emotions were so outdated, which doesn’t evoke the feeling required for the scenes.
The VFX in the movie was too much, and in some places it was too artificial and could have shot at actual places to avoid those glitches.
The music by Harris Jayaraj was way too average and songs were literally forced in to the film, just to make it a commercial package.
What to watch out for: The only thing which makes it quite bearable is cinematography by Sukumar. He did his best to make this below average film look average. His work was really great. Apart from that, I can’t really think what was good about “Gethu”. And of course the runtime, which was only 119 minutes, thank goodness to that.
Verdict: Thirukumaran who gave the stupendous “Maan Karate” couldn’t maintain the reputation with “Gethu”. A well thought story was not executed to its potential, if only it had an established lead instead of Udhayanidhi it might have made decent business at the box office, just an opinion.
