Thoonga Nagaram

Thoonga Nagaram is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by debutant Gaurav Narayanan, starring himself along with Vimal, Bharani, Nishanth, and Anjali. The film, produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies, was shot entirely in Madurai, the city where the story takes place and which the title refers to. It was released on 4 February 2011 to positive reviews.

Plot

Kannan, Ayyavu, Rajamani, and Mariappan are four friends who live their lives in their own way in Madurai. They are callous youths who go hammer and tongs to make both ends meet. Kannan, a wedding videographer, comes across his cousin Radha, who is a compere in a local cable TV channel, and love blossoms between them. However, one event changes the course of their life. Kannan bashes a youth for taking obscene video clippings of a girl and blackmailing her with ulterior motive. The youth's father finds out the men behind the attack on his son. He hatches a conspiracy and ensures that the friends themselves turn foes for each other. In the meantime, it is time for Kannan to tie the knot with Radha. Did the baddie succeed in his mission is the crux of the story.

Cast

Vimal as Thavuttu Raja
*Master Sachin as young Kannan
Anjali as Kalaivani
Bharani as Ayyavu
Gaurav Narayanan as Rajamani
Nishanth as Mariappan
V. N. Chidambaram as Periya Thappa
Arun Kumar as Periya Thappa Brother
Subbu Panchu
Pandu
Yogi Babu as Radha's fan
Lizzie Antony as Thahsildar's wife
Singampuli
Soori as Address informer for Theru Trisha
Krishnamoorthy
Madhumitha as Special Appearance
Vadivelu as Special Appearance

Soundtrack

The soundtrack consists of seven tracks including one remix number from Penn tuned by Sundar C. Babu. It was released by Think Music.

Reception

A critic from The New Indian Express wrote, "The director introduces a couple of twists and turns to pep up his narration, but the story leads to a loose end with loopholes and unanswered questions. As a result, neither the bonding nor the betrayal comes across strongly and convincingly." Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff rated the film 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "After a fairly slow first half, the screenplay picks up pace in the second. There are a few edge-of-the-seat moments that work quite well. While the dialect hits the spot at times, the tedium of predictability sets in; you've seen many movies by now, where the scenario and conversations are identical." A critic from IANS gave it 2.5 stars and wrote, "Overall Thoonga Nagaram manages to entertain with some thrill in the second half."