"Gangs Of Madras" Review: The Only Thing Remarkable About This Film Is A Woman As The Main Character

Gangs Of Madras

Director: C. V. Kumar
Cast: Kalaiyarasan, Priyanka Ruth, Daniel Balaji, Bagavathi Perumal, Aadukalam Naren, Vijay BharathamaniRating: 2.5/5

Like the opening scene of the film Badlapur by Sriram Raghavan, Gangs Of Madras begins with the African saying ‘The axe forgets but the tree remembers’. The film follows the story of a couple who is having a beautiful life but their future is ruined after a shootout. Only the woman survived and she lost her husband and also the child she is pregnant with. Director C V Kumar used to say that this film is influenced by Kill Bill to some extent, and that’s may be the reason why the main character Raiza is filled with revenge, just like the way the Bride did in Kill Bill. The villains of Gangs Of Madras are not simply hitmen like the other two films, they are the gangsters from an international drug trafficking network.

The one thing that makes this film stand out among many other gangster films that were made is the fact that its main character is a woman. The audience is curious about how such an ordinary woman can set her foot in the ruthless gangster world where women are treated as, if not submissive housewives then sex objects only. Another remarkable point about this film is the excellent performance of Priyanka Ruth. To got into her character, she was willing to do anything, from getting bruised to even bleeding. The film is filled with anger and emotions through each scene, with brilliant music composed by Shyamalangan, although it’s still compared with the theme music of Jigarthanda which was made by Santhosh Narayanan.

However, the film lacks a well-written plot. Except for the main character Raiza, other characters were underdeveloped and are not well connected to the plot. There wasn’t anything exceptional about their acting either. Every background information was delivered to the audience under the form of bullet points to show the research, not to develop the characters. Therefore, it makes it’s hard for the audience to get immersed in the story. Also, it seems too easy for Raiza to step into the violent gangster world.

Overall, the underdeveloped character system, superficial and poorly written plot, and the way that everything about this film is so disconnected, all resulted in a tasteless film. Kumar’s performance was also disappointing when he directed the film in a too theoretical way.

>>> Also read: Auto Shankar Web Series Free Download (2019) | The Life Of A Serial Killer