Kuruthi Aattam starring Atharva and Priya Bhavani Shankar is set up in Madurai, and like many other films, it depicts the life of people who control the underworld of the city. Only this time, instead of a loud and crass man at the helm of things, the criminal under lord is a woman. Gandhimadhi played Radhika Sarathkumar, rules the thugs and powerful criminals in the city with an iron fist. Despite the constant danger that she is in, she manages to hold on tight to her power. She is also a feared villain in the film.

Sakthi lost his parents in an accident, one that was a result of Gandhimadhi’s instructions. She had asked for a bus to be burned, and along with it burned Sakthi’s parents. One would expect him to grow up with wanting vengeance in his heart. Instead, he seems to be a young man who has nothing but friends, love and life on his mind. In fact, he befriends Gandhimadhi’s son Muthu after a scuffle that causes misunderstanding between Muthu and his other toxic friend. Now, this relationship between Sakthi and Muthu is an interesting take on straight man friendships. However, this exploration doesn’t last too long.

In fact, one of the two interesting things about this film is this friendship that Muthu and Sakthi have going in secrecy. The moment this is broken, there is really no emotional substance in the film. The romantic angle between Sakthi and school teacher Vennila (Priya Bhavani Shankar) doesn’t work as well as it should have. While Vennila struggles with the trauma of being the daughter of a formerly powerful thug, that doesn’t explain why she feels the need to physically abuse her students to instil discipline. Her belief system seems contrary and this never explored beyond the surface.

She seeks happiness after befriending Sakthi. In fact, it is he who pushes her to seek happiness consciously. Yet, she is clear that she cannot live with a man who would remind her of her father, or his violent lifestyle. At the moment, her father is disabled and it is assumed that the cause of this is an attempt by his enemies on his life. She clearly cannot face violence, and yet, in one of the scenes, the film places her smack in the middle of a fight sequence.

Considering the issues that she had raised with Sakthi about not being okay with violence, one would expect her to react to this fight in an appropriate manner. Yet, the audience do not see her breakdown, or have a weak moment dedicated solely to her to feel her emotions regarding almost losing the man she is in love with. Instead, this fight sequence cuts to another conflict. The film itself is a series of conflicts that do not get resolved. At no point is there a closure for any of the characters in the film,

For instance, the question of what really happened to Sakthi’s sister Kalai is the first one that comes to mind after having seen the movie.

Beyond all of this, the film has a stunt sequence in the climax portion that is laughable. The execution is surprisingly juvenile, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see these scenes tuned into memes for social media consumption. It is surprising because the beginning part of film, which also had quite a bit of stunts, did not seem as haphazardly put together. This does make one one, were they in a hurry? The scene was definitely not impressive, and only elicited laughter in the dark corners of the theater.

Similarly, there are also inconsistencies in writing the conflicts between characters. The film tries to connect characters by fate as 2011 film Vaanam had done in the past. However, it fails terribly. In fact, this unclear connection from one character to another serves as the undoing of this film. While a defenceless child can push an adult to any extreme, the same is not true for an adult. Especially in the absence of a bond that is strong enough to influence someone’s action. Yet, the entire film is dependent on such bonds. Be it between Muthu and Sakthi, which did not get fleshed out well enough, the one between Sakthi and Vennila, or the one between Sakthi and a patient’s father.

The second thing that really worked in favor of the film is Arivu’s character. Portrayed by Prakash Raghavan, Arivu shows audiences the depth of human greed and desperation. He is not a foolproof villain. Instead, he has too many flaws to take over the throne. Yet, he is hungry for power, and egotistic, and this is the perfect cocktail for an entertaining villain. Even in the last few moment, it is he who steals the show.

Just a little bit more of such inspired writing would have helped Kuruthi Aattam. To be honest, the incorrect spelling Kabaddi in Tamil on the t-shirt at the beginning of the film was extremely distracting.