Shoot The Kuruvi Movie Review

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The movie is about an innocent man who, while on his effort to gather money to pay for his medical surgery, alters the life of a gangster. Actor Arjai who was last seen in a supporting role in the slasher film Miral is back on screens with his crime thriller flick Shoot The Kuruvi in which he has played the lead role. Actor Sha Ra has played a vital part in the movie. Storyteller Mathivaanan has penned and directed the flick. So, how has the crime thriller drama Shoot The Kuruvi come out? Will it aid actor Arjai to establish a bankable lead hero image in Tamil cinema, and launch actors Shah Ra and Aashiq Hussain as an entertaining comedy duo? To know that let us get into the movie review. 

Shoot The Kuruvi follows the life of Kuruvi Rajan (Arjai), a callous gangster who runs an illegal cartel that deals with smuggling antiques and creating fake passports. The film opens to two college students waiting in a room to interview a professor named Mithran (Rajkumar G), who has written extensively about Kuruvi Rajan. After initial rejection, he agrees to talk to them on seeing a few photo pieces of Kuruvi Rajan that they place before him. Through an animated narration we get a little backstory as to who Kuruvi Rajan is, and how he ended up becoming the head of a mafia organization. We then witness a team of police officers who have been tasked to encounter Kuruvi Rajan. He learns about it, and abducts them. The story then navigates to another character, Sharif (Aashiq Hussain), an innocent young man who has been advised by his doctor for an open-heart surgery. 

Being a struggling middle class fellow, he begins by listing everything he possesses for sale online as it would cost five lakhs for his surgery. He falls asleep. A monk (Suresh Chakravarthi) comes in his dream and gives him a little pep talk. He says if you are going to die, then why are you worried? Set a to-do-list of five things and start doing it. Sharif wakes up and leaves for Chennai. Meanwhile, the cops are tortured to reveal details about the person behind the operation to encounter Kuruvi Rajan. Destiny has its play and Sharif and Kuruvi Rajan cross paths. Who ordered the hit on Kuruvi Rajan, and will Sharif get the money for his operation before it is too late, is what makes the rest of the story. 

Mathivaanan’s Shoot The Kuruvi had massive potential to go down as a cult drama in line with Karthik Subbaraj’s Jigarthanda. The core design of both the films is the same. A dreaded ruthless gangster taken for a ride by an innocent man. Given the time constraint, Shoot The Kuruvi does not waste time. It draws us in to its universe rightway and completely retains our attention to its end card. Director Mathivaanan demonstrates his hold over craft with his brilliant screenplay. An entire hour or so goes by just like that. At no point we feel a drag. Even in the confined time space he builds mass moments, spins dark comedy, writes an emotional bit, and keeps a mystery. The stretch that actors Sha Ra and Aashiq Hussain share are thoroughly amusing. 

On the downside, all lead characters have interesting aspects to them. But none of it gets explored beyond basic introduction. For instance, there is a mystery surrounding the professors’ character. When he is introduced, he quotes Albert Einstein, ‘Two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. I am not sure of the universe.’ There is an evident intention to paint him as a clever personality. Unfortunately, that is all we get to relate to his intellect. It is difficult to talk about characterization for a film that hardly runs for an hour. This is where the runtime limitation becomes problematic. There is much more potential to the script than what is presented. A plot like that of Shoot The Kuruvi deserves a better budget and a star cast. 

Despite being the lead, actor Arjai has nothing much to do than dress up well and walk in chic manner. But that is what his character demands, and he lives up to it. Though one could not avoid feeling that he could have taken his character a notch further with his performance. Actor Sha Ra is natural and showcases his dexterity as a performer of comedy once again. Are storytellers of Tamil cinema who are in shortage of comedians paying attention? He almost shoulders the film along with actor Aashiq Hussain who does complete justice to his role. Actor Rajkumar G serves his purpose for why he was roped in. Actor Suresh Chakravarthi makes an impact even in a short screen time. Actor Mani Vaithy lives up to his part. Actress Sai Prasanna is adequate. Actor Gypsy Nawin is operational. Actor Shiva is functional. The rest of the cast has delivered what was asked of them. 

On the technical front, a short rap bit by music director Srikanth Lakshman is entertaining. Even he adds value to the film with his background score which elevates mass moments and enhances comical portions. The film, for its most part unfolds within a closed setup. Cinematographer Brendon Shushanth has mounted his cameras at good angles to get better visuals. His lighting and coloring also standout. Editor K Kamalakannan has put his scissor at the right spots and has complemented the work of his colleague well. 

On the whole, with a decent budget and better star cast storyteller Mathivaanan’s Shoot The Kuruvi would have been a superb commercial entertainer.