Velaikkaran

Mohan Raja's 2017 Tamil film follows a young man from a slum taking on the food industry. Arivu wants the people of his neighbourhood to live with dignity and sees a proper job as the way to it; inside the large food company he joins, he learns how the products are made. The film brings a direct criticism of what is in packaged food, of the trust built by advertising and of consumer ignorance, and does it inside a commercial form. His opposite number, Aadhi, is an ambitious and cold executive, and Fahadh Faasil takes the film's strongest passages in that role. The story turns didactic in places and it runs long. Sivakarthikeyan moves out of comic roles into more serious ground. Who it's for: viewers who like Tamil cinema and message-driven thrillers. Who it's not for: anyone who dislikes films that state their message; this one states it plainly.