Let me start this review with a scene from Pathu Thala, to acquaint you with the unrestrained absurdities of the plot. Simbu, playing AGR, a don, has the following conversation with his estranged sister at some point in the movie: “You’ve been angry with me all this while for killing off your husband. But did you ever ask your Annan [elder brother] why I killed him?” The sister looks stricken. No, she hadn’t thought to ask. Insert dramatic rain and a piece of even dramatic music. He proceeds to offer a paltry explanation that really doesn’t tell her much. She has no further quarrels. They are immediately happily reconciled.
This conversation takes place on AGR’s birthday – one that he has refused to celebrate without his beloved sister’s greetings. Now that the ‘little misunderstanding’ about a murder in the family has been cleared up, the plot can cut to a celebratory song.
We know that Kollywood loves the sister-brother sentiment only a shade less than it does the Amma sentiment, but Pathu Thala pushes its luck even by those standards. Why did it never occur to the sister, Samthura (Anu Sithara), that she must ask her brother why he killed her husband? Possibly because Tamil movie directors assume that women simply don’t think, as a habit. We’ll never know for sure though.
Oh, there is another minor detail to this. Samuthra’s husband was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, played by Santhosh Prathap in an extended cameo. Don’t worry, it’s not a spoiler. We’re told who he is when the movie opens. We’re also told that he and the deputy chief minister (Gautham Vasudev Menon) are at war with each other, one trying to oust the other from the party at every turn. AGR runs a sand smuggling cartel somewhere in Kanyakumari. He plays kingmaker from the shadows, deciding who should be in power and who should not. If you’re wondering now why some of these elements remind you eerily of Tamil Nadu politics, wonder away. I didn’t know what to make of it either.
AGR may be a don, but he’s played by Simbu, so of course he’s a don with a heart of gold. A righteous demi-god to the People of Kanyakumari who slaughters his enemies, as well as pours crores of rupees into charitable work. He and his coterie are often seen carrying around a hefty copy of the Kamba Ramayananam, because the R in AGR stands for Ravanan you see? Hence the title Pathu Thala—Ten Heads.
There’s another explanation as well for the choice of literature, but I won’t spoil it for you in case you’re still determined to go watch the movie.
This is about all of the plot that can possibly be framed in coherent sentences. The rest of the movie is a gory tale of vigilantism, undercover cops, loyalty, treachery, and lots and lots of shots of Simbu just striding across the screen, scowling fiercely. Sometimes, he strides over to a helicopter that’s always hovering overhead even though there are at least ten cars lined up at his disposal at any given time.
If there’s one aspect where credit is due to Simbu, it’s that he hangs back in his own movie, making quite a delayed entry. This lets the other actors including GVM, Gautham Karthik, Priya Bhavani Shankar, and Kaliyarasan in a short cameo role, cement their presence.
After he finally smoulders his way onto the screen with a mass entrance, Simbu manages to bring some gravitas to a character written with a near-fanatic dedication to filmy stereotypes. GVM seems to have settled comfortably into playing the kind of villains who have a quiet menace about them. But unfortunately, the writing gives him little to be truly terrifying.
Pathu Thala has been marketed as a “neo-noir action thriller”. The film has a few formulaic moments that aspire to that description, but director Obeli N Krishna fails to pull together a cohesive story. Even AR Rahman's music does not elevate this film which cannot boast of a single memorable song.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.