Agilan review: Jayam Ravi's earnest presence is the major saving grace in this half-baked action drama

2.5/5

Story: A ruffian, who works under an influential person at a sea port, strikes an illegal deal with an ambitious entrepreneur, leaving his boss furious. He eventually goes on to take the port under his control after the deal becomes successful. Quite jealous of his winning streak, a few people decided to finish him off. A sincere cop, who is hell-bent on exposing his deal, is also behind him. But little did others know that he had laid some solid plans behind the big deal. What is he up to?

Review: One of the reasons Agilan carried good expectations among movie buffs is the unexplored terrain director Kalyana Krishnan chose for the film. It revolves around various legal and illegal transactions that are set against a sea port in Chennai. Only a handful of stories have been narrated against this backdrop, and audiences were curious ever since makers unveiled the promo videos.

Agilan (Jayam Ravi) is an unapologetic hooligan working under Paranthaman (Hareesh Peradi), who is into small-time illegal business around a sea port. Self-obsessed and ambitious by nature, the former strikes a deal with Kapoor (Tarun Arora), an entrepreneur who earns crores through illegal means.

Paranthaman, who is dejected over the sudden growth of his aide, hatches a plan to finish him off with the help of a few people. However, Agilan has some other plans and he attempts to execute it with the help of Madhavi (Priya Bhavani Shankar), a cop and his lady love.

Enter Gokul (Chirag Jani), a sincere cop, who is after Agilan and Kapoor in a bid to eradicate the illegal nexus surrounding the port. Will he be able to stop Agilan's juggernaut?

Kalyana Krishnan succeeds in establishing convincing characters and setting up a story against a less explored backdrop. Ravi's performance as an ambitious person with grey shades is the major positive aspect of the film. He impresses in action scenes, exudes swag and brings in varied layers of emotions required from his character.

His measured portrayal of the role keeps the movie engaging to a decent extent. Hareesh Peradi is apt in his role, but reminds us of a few characters he has essayed in the past. Chiraj Jani is effective, but the role could have had more instances to score over others.

However, the likes of Priya Bhavani Shankar, Tarun Arora, Tanya Ravichandran, Madhusudhanan and Harish Uthaman among others do not leave much impact, thanks to their underwritten characters. The equations between a few characters in the story change frequently in an inorganic manner because of which we hardly get to invest in their conflicts.

Despite the protagonist having a valid reason for being ambitious and thinking out-of-the box, we aren't able to relate completely with his emotions. The staging of a few crucial sequences appear superficial, leading to the plot ending up weak as the story progresses.

Vivek Anand Santhosam's visuals are impressive; his cinematography effectively captures the activities and lives around the sea port. Sam CS's background score is neat, but is nowhere compared to a few of his recent outings.      

Verdict: Jayam Ravi stands out in this action flick which is entertaining only in parts, thanks to a host of unengaging conflicts and characters which lack depth.