‘Captain Miller’ movie review: A fantastic Dhanush spearheads Arun Matheswaran’s mostly-engaging actioner – The Hindu
Dhanush the actor has come a good distance; if his first decade in cinema personified him because the poster boy for the meandering youth who’s discovered to be a menace even by his household, the earlier decade is when he has gotten the area to really unfold his wings and construct a portfolio to showcase the expertise powerhouse he’s. In a meta method, it additionally occurs to be his character arc in Arun Matheswaran’s Captain Miller, which occurs to be the story of a small-town man’s goals of becoming a member of the British army of the pre-independence period, solely to grasp that the gun he has to wield should level at his personal individuals.
Director Arun Matheswaran’s first two movies, Rocky and Saani Kaayidham, may superficially appear to be gloriously-violent revenge flicks, however each the movies query the so-called hierarchy with the latter not holding again on its portrayal of caste discrimination. In Captain Miller, regardless of motion talking louder than phrases, the underlying message it tries to convey is extra pronounced and regardless of all of the bloodshed, it’s additionally paradoxically Arun’s least violent movie.
Over the past a number of many years, we’ve got had a whole bunch of movies set within the Independence motion, however virtually all of them centered on the efforts of actual and fictional revolutionary leaders in opposition to the colonialists. However in Captain Miller, our titular hero factors out how his tribe had been stepped over by the privileged higher caste and the way it’s worse than being ruled by the British. In considered one of a number of good scenes that includes a frazzled Analeesan (Dhanush), he talks of how the Savarnas by no means let his individuals slip on a pair of footwear however the British are giving him boots; how his personal countrymen’s prejudice doesn’t permit him to enter a temple however the white of us are able to share the desk and break bread with him.
Captain Miller (Tamil)
Akin to Arun Matheswaran’s earlier protagonists, Analeesan’s street to success is a pathos-paved one which moulders him from the within. If it was the lack of their household for Rocky and Ponni (Saani Kaayidham), it’s the blood of a whole bunch of his personal individuals — together with that of his kin and the husband of his unrequited love — which fuels Analeesan’s ardour for retribution and lends a way of poignancy to his bloody journey. In a world the place he has to both change into a British soldier to achieve the respect each human is meant to naturally get, or flip insurgent and seize that respect within the type of concern, destiny lets him do each. It’s the identical destiny that transforms a perplexed Analeesan into the rightfully obstinate Captain Miller.
A nonetheless from ‘Captain Miller’
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Including to the similarities from his earlier works, Arun sticks to a non-linear narrative compartmentalised into chapters; it really works splendidly. It virtually masks the in any other case simple story of a insurgent and trades depth for handy but gratifying theatrical moments. Although the plot of Captain Miller just isn’t as easy, and the underlying themes and lore (with a pinch of actual occasions), are actually fascinating, it doesn’t take away the predictability of it. Amidst the blazing weapons, charred our bodies, splattered blood and the one-man military wreaking havoc, the story of a hidden secret — a MacGuffin for us, a sacrosanct remnant of a prejudiced previous for Miller’s individuals — make for probably the most intriguing elements of the movie and leaves us wishing that it was explored extra. The truth that the movie additionally doesn’t linger in its moments results in us feeling distant from the happenings, and never perturbed by the unfolding melancholic occasions.
What would have in any other case changed into a one-dimensional position within the arms of an unseasoned artist, turns into a clean canvas for Dhanush to showcase his appearing prowess and he delivers. As his character rises within the ranks from being a heartbroken teen who turns right into a dejected trooper, after which from a infamous bandit to a revolutionist, Dhanush aces each phase of Analeesan’s transformation. Add to it a implausible supporting forged that includes Priyanka Arul Mohan, Sundeep Kishan, Elango Kumaravel and Nivedhithaa Sathish alongside Shiva Rajkumar exuding the identical ‘mass’ he did with Jailer, and Captain Miller has top-of-the-line actor ensembles we’ve got seen in current instances. The movie’s great portrayal of its feminine characters gathers momentum as time progresses. Siddhartha Nuni’s good cinematography and GV Prakash’s music, with which he retains his implausible streak with Dhanush, add nice worth to Captain Miller; the truth is, the visible remedy seems like Arun’s hat-tip to a number of pillars of world cinema.
Regardless of just a few shortcomings, Captain Miller is a big step up for its filmmaker — whose type and socio-political takes want extra reward — and is one more feather to Dhanush’s much-adorned cap. Sequel calling?
Captain Miller is at present operating in theatres
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