In today's highly reluctant society towards experimental pieces, Shakti Soundar Rajan's bold attempt - TIK TIK TIK, provides a base for all the audiences to sit back, relax and enjoy what is now trending as a proud achievement for the Tamil Cinema industry.
Director Shakti Soundar Rajan and actor Jayam Ravi have always tried to experiment within the commercial format. Two years back, they made Tamil Cinema's first zombie thriller, Miruthan, which unsurprisingly received neutral responses from audiences. Now, they are back with the first space thriller ever made, Tik Tik Tik. The film certainly creates a new experience, especially for those who are craving for some level of novelty and freshness in plot.
As we are aware that this is entirely an asteroid hit situation that's about to provoke catastrophic sets of events on planet earth, the film starts with an outer space visual, then an asteroid heading towards the earth, specifically Chennai and blasting towards the ground of a slum area in Chennai.
That leads to explosion that sets off car alarms and leaves a massive hole on the ground. Immediately, news channels flashes the death toll of the incident and the extent of the damage done.
The next scene, we have a group of top defense officials debating a highly confidential matter depressingly with the lack of urgency and every actor/actress making the same face expression repeatedly until the end of the scene. I strongly feel this scene was done abruptly and it needed a little bit of time to develop a stronger follow up after the explosion scene.
What surprised me the most is the calmness and how composed the higher officials were when explaining an even disastrous event that's about to happen in India. It was about a rouge asteroid measuring 60 square kilometers dropping into the Bay of Bengal in seven days, unleashing tsunamis and killing approximately, 40 million people!
Lacking nuclear firepower to carry out the mission, Defense Department Chief, Jayaprakash comes up with the craziest of plans, which is to rob nuclear missile from a space station, which is said to be owned by the "Beep", a Chinese outer space station.
This is where our hero comes into the picture. Well, to rob, you need a robber, that's what Jayam Ravi happens to be in this movie. A professional thief and a magician, Jayam Ravi's intro will certainly give you the, "wow, this is something different, not the usual flying, running or dramatic intro scenes for Tamil Cinema actors."
Jayam Ravi's son, Arav Ravi, made his debut acting role as his son in this, and I have to say, they both put up a decent, fruitful bond on screen. The father-son relationship would tear you up, especially during the Kurumba song.
What's a tamil movie without comedy? Having selected to fly to outer space to rob the nuclear missile, I personally liked the part, where Jayam Ravi requests for both his friends to be part of the mission. It is not rare in a tamil movie where the main lead would actually give much importance to the comedians, but in this one, it was otherwise.
The comedy relief was much-needed, and I strongly feel RJ Ramesh Thilak and Arjunan closed the gaps of almost making this a one-way, boring and formal piece.
Aaron Aziz's role was too little to bare, simply put because after watching the trailer and glancing through the posters, I was given a hope that his role would be a major part of the movie. He seemed clueless almost since he existed on screen towards the end.
Nivetha Pethuraj did an excellent job, she showed much character and attitude, carrying one of the crucial roles in this movie.
On the flip side, the film lacked a strong villain, and for movies of such genre, the villain is a character that needs no immediate or clear-cut exposure, which in a way diluted the impact of the climax. Another drawback is that the villain character was revealed almost the half way point, which already made the film to be very predictable towards the end.
Jayam Ravi is one of the most versatile, brave and experimental young actors I know today, and he deserves huge credits for his excellent presence on screen. Ravi as the con-artist-turned-astronaut was amazing and definitely a solid reason to go and watch this film! Nivetha Pethuraj alongside Vincent Asokan did a good job and as mentioned, the comedians, Ramesh and Arjunan provided enough laughs to enjoy.
Shakti Soundar Rajan has provided us with a reasonably entertaining film without any lag. A good watch, indeed.
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