The morning show (8 am) for this year’s last major release didn’t feel like a star’s film at all. Despite several hoardings and boards announcing the presence of Dhanush’s local fan base, Pallavaram’s Janatha theatre was hardly festive, with only 60 per cent attendance. It was perhaps the gloom of the floods that kept audiences away or it could have even been the underwhelming trailer. Either ways, it was surprising to see such a small audience for a film that was earlier named ‘VIP 2’ as it brought together Velraj, Dhanush and Anirudh—the team behind last year’s massive hit, Velaiyilla Pattathari.
Thanga Magan
Directed by: Velraj
Cast: Dhanush, Samantha, Amy Jackson, K.S. Ravikumar, Radhika Sarathkumar
Here are some of the audience reactions to the movie after the first show.
Manoj, college student: 2 stars
I came to watch Thanga Magan expecting another VIP. But this was hardly in the same league. The first half was nice and breezy and I liked the parts with the younger Dhanush. I didn’t like the second half much. I wish they had kept it light.
Sri Krishna, IT employee: 3.5 stars
I quite liked the film. I wouldn’t say it was as good as VIP but it had a few nice moments and the songs were good…what more do you want? The first half was fun and it only got better after that. I found the portions dealing with the bag of money and the troubles it brings very interesting.
Vincent Raj, businessman: 1 star
There isn’t much in the film for it to be given any rating but I guess I would give it one star because I liked the music. The best part of the film was that it got over quite quickly.
Senthil, student: 2 stars
This is not the kind of film I was expecting. I thought it would be much better…in hindsight even Maari seems better. Wish Dhanush had opted to work in a better script.
Rajesh, self-employed: 1 star
If you’ve already bought your tickets for Thanga Magan, then I suppose you can watch it once. If you haven’t, then I would advice you to stay away. There’s nothing new it offers.
For more, >watch out for Sudhir Srinivasan’s review in this space.
Check out the trailer here
