Thangalaan

The Kolar region at the end of the nineteenth century. Thangalaan is a farmer whose land has been taken and who lives in debt with the rest of the village. A British official arrives saying there is gold in the area and looking for labour to open the mines. Thangalaan's family has known that ground for generations. In the forest there is Aarathi, a figure standing against the mines. Pa. Ranjith directs. Vikram plays Thangalaan and appears in five roles, with Pasupathy, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Malavika Mohanan and Daniel Caltagirone. The background is real: the Kolar Gold Fields in Karnataka were worked by the British in the colonial period, and most of the labour was brought from Tamil regions from the bottom of the caste order. The film takes that history as its direct subject. Ranjith's cinema is built on caste and this is his largest production. The narrative runs in the shape of an adventure film, and land ownership, caste and the colonial economy never recede into the background. Vikram lost a great deal of weight for the part and the physical transformation was placed at the centre of the marketing. It opened on 15 August 2024 and took over 260 million rupees on its first day, the biggest opening of Vikram's career. Who it is for: viewers who like Tamil cinema, Pa. Ranjith's political narrative and period film. Who it is not for: the fantastical elements and the historical account never quite fit together, the last section is confused, and the violence is heavy.