Duty-free cop Muruganandam (Vishal). His wife Kavita (Sunaina) is a nurse. Only son, Rasu (Master Raghav). Muruganandam is suspended for a year for kicking a young man on suspicion of being a sex offender. Then he gets back to work on the recommendation of DIG Kamal (Prabhu) and decides not to touch the lathi anymore. But fate plays a different way. The DIG who recommended him has a problem and Muruganandam has to take the baton. The story is about the problem that arises and how he recovers from it.
Debutant director Vinod Kumar makes us sit up straight with the story of a shopkeeper as the hero, who has to save himself and his family against the raiders. The first half moves interestingly and not distractingly, telling the background to the villains, the situation in which the hero gets stuck. The scenes related to the protagonist’s beautiful family are also enjoyable.
In the second half, the screenplay begins to pick up after the protagonist is trapped alone in a rowdy crowd inside an unfinished building. Since the reason for his son’s entanglement with the hero is not strong enough, the sentimental scenes woven around it seem like unnecessary padding. The actions of the villains, Shark and White, are very ‘childish’, so there is no threat to those characters.
The twist of Murugan being stuck there was surprising but it didn’t last long. It feels like the film has been pulled unnecessarily when finished.
As a dutiful and family-loving shopkeeper, Vishal has done a great job in expressing emotions and body language. The fight scenes seem more labored than usual. Sunaina has given the required performance for the character.
As the villain as much as the hero, Ramana is intimidating. His looks and body language fit the ‘white’ role beautifully. Boy Raghav has also given a great performance. Prabhu and Thalivasal Vijay in a dignified appearance leave a stamp of experience.
Villain Sunny has also tried to make an impact. Yuvan’s song ‘Veerathukkor Niramundu’ attracts attention. Background music is okay. Cinematography by Balasubramaniam and Balakrishna Thota and editing by NP Kanth have given the story what it needs.
This ‘Lathi’ would have had a heavy impact if the second half had paid more attention to the screenplay and avoided some logical errors.