'Kanguva' Being The Most Trolled Film In Recent Memory May Offer An Important Lesson For Kollywood

This is not the time to be petty or nasty. Casting aside all differences, you must try and reach out empathetically to provide solace, and counselling, if need be, to anyone known to you who might have watched Kanguva.

The latest Tamil flick, starring Suriya in the lead, is not for the weak-hearted. You need plenty of pluck and fortitude to survive this one big blaring mess of a movie. Within 24 hours of its release, it has been panned mercilessly by lay fans as well as discerning critics. 

On social media platforms, which, even in the best of times, is no big respecter of popularity, Suriya and Kanguva's director 'Siruthai' Siva have been the grist for the mocking meme factory. Kanguva is widely touted to be the most trolled movie in recent times. In a season which also saw the release of the feckless Indian 2, it takes some doing.

Kanguva, mounted lavishly with 'period portions' that go back as early as the tenth century and Roman conquests, lacks both the heft and imagination to match the ambition. It is like having the money to splurge on a Ferrari engine but having the shallow creativity to try and fasten it to a rickety bullock cart.

The first 30-40 minutes of the film is among the most terrible in recent times. And after this there was no real recovery possible. It is like getting reduced to 40 for 6 on the first morning of a Test match. The batting team can never rise from such a debacle.

Quality Control? What Were Suriya and Siva Doing?

It is not just the story or screenplay that is a let-down. The CG effects (computer graphics) are rudimentary, and the editing is all over the place. But it is the music and sound effects that are copping the most flak. They say the sound issues have been sorted out from the second day. But to all of those who saw the film on the first day, Kanguva was in clear violation, whatever noise pollution rules are in place in the country.

The music director (Devi Sri Prasad) was surely on a headbanging trip, while almost all the characters shout from the top of their voice at decibels when you are inside a forest and crying yourself out for help.

It begs the question, did nobody in the team actually sit down to watch the film before it was let loose on hapless audiences?

For if there had been even a minimal quality check, some of the issues that plague the film could have been addressed, especially the technical ones. It is not as if Kanguva is a lazy product. A lot of effort has indeed gone into it, and still what we have got is one tortuous train wreck.

So, despite putting in the hard yards, how can a film be so off the mark? There are no easy answers, but suffice to say that the makers were blinded by their own vaunting dream for what is proving to be a blight for filmmakers: a pan-Indian appeal.

The spectacular success of Baahubali and RRR evidently seems to be driving many directors and stars nuts. In their imagination, they seem to have come to the conclusion that visual dazzle and razzmatazz, especially of the period variety, yoked to some random story, can deliver success.

Baahubali and RRR, whatever your views on them maybe, were not primarily conceived with a pan-Indian idea. That it ended up as a pan-Indian success was essentially incidental. But films like Kalki 2898 AD and the KGF series were all built with all-India dreams. They were decidedly lesser products, and fortunate to taste box-office success.

Kanguva's director, Siva, had hitherto never shown that he has the cinematic nous or the general smarts to carry off such a mammoth task. He is a director, on the evidence of his films so far, who operates out of a limited and limiting formula. Kanguva, in its scope and spread, needed someone with vision and variety.

Karma Catches Up With Suriya

And its lead actor, Suriya, who can be termed a sincere actor in his career, also does not have the bravura and electric presence that a period film demands. At least in the case of Baahubali, director S S Rajamouli's sprawling vision and intelligence papered over the shortcomings in Prabhas' stature as a tall performer. 

Okay, Kanguva was bad beyond words, but how has it ended up as the most mercilessly trolled film, as we said, in a year that also saw Indian 2? Well, as in the case of Kamal films, it also boils down to how the film was promoted ahead of its release.

Of course, all filmmakers and actors hype their own projects. Exaggeration and shiny adjectives are par for all film promotions. But even here, there seems to be some invisible line. Kamal and his co-actor in Indian 2, Siddharth, who are both prone to strange hyperboles, went overboard. And here, Suriya and Siva too seem to have gone overboard.

Suriya talking about how other filmmakers will watch Kanguva with their mouths wide open (in astonishment) was clearly in the ‘oversell’ territory. Film producer Gnanavelraja's spiel on how the film will rake in over Rs 2,000 crore was also an overkill.

In a sense, Suriya and Siva overplaying their hands finds a match in some  of the most trenchant criticism that a film has received in recent times. While the usually troll-trigger-happy YouTube platform going hammer and tongs against Kanguva wasn't surprising, even some of the relatively circumspect critics trashing the film in glowing invectives was the real revealing part.

But then again, Suriya may have no one else to blame but himself. It is karmic comeuppance in a sense, as he had been intellectually dishonest in Suraraipotru and Jai Bhim. Both the movies, based on real-life happenings and people, had convenient segues that were politically expedient to him. You don't tamper with factual events. But he did that. And now when he is down, it is tough to summon sympathy for his predicament.

But Kanguva may not be an unmitigated disaster in totality. The good thing is, it may have stopped some pan-Indian dreams in Kollywood. Wiser after this shocker, filmmakers may be ready for some reality check. They will weigh their films with a much more reliable and honest scale.

Kanguva, a product of hubris and hype, not surprisingly fell on its own petard.