When many of the present day economists and other academicians across India argues for digitilisation of transactions, I was bit sceptical regarding this, considering the present state of cyber infrastructure of our country and the hallaboo happened during demonetisation days . I am also not a supporter of linking everything with Aadhar card or pan card or whatever. Though these measures are convenient, but the more important question is -are they safe? I doubt. Even SBI and many government websites are getting hacked on a regular basis. Even USA (usually regarded as having safest financial infrastructure) maintains nearly 60 percent of its transactions through liquid money. Basic premise of Irumbu thirai lies here. Major Kathirvelan, an officer in Indian Army who has a hatred/aversion towards bank loans (Quite funny backdrop!) decides to approach bank for financing his sisters’ marriage. In a turn of events, Kathirvelans’ sanctioned amount gets stolen within minutes from his account. Things take a turn, when Kathirvelan notices that similar events occurred across Tamil Nadu over recent years pointing towards a shadow figure in darknet- White devil whose identity remains unknown even to his close followers. Major USP of Irumbu thirai is its excellent screenplay and equally good execution by PS Mithran. A near perfect direction keeping apart some lags in first half. Mithran promises to be a good asset for Ktown in years to come. Technically also Irumbu thirai is an excellent product. The music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is impressive, though ‘Azhagiye’ song has been omitted from theatrical version. Vishal delivers a decent performance, while Samantha,Robo Shankar all other supporting cast also did well. But the stunner was Arjun. He completely overshadowed others through an excellent performance. Subway action sequences and kidnapping scene was well choreographed. On the downside, Irumbu thirai takes a lot of time to establish its characters- Nearly an hour! The characterisation of Samantha was not well developed, and falls over the heels for Vishal almost instantly (Typical South Indian style!) .Climax could have been better. If these factors wouldnot have been felt, Irumbu thirai would be on par with Thani oruvan and Thuppari vaalan- two of the most entertaining thrillers from Tamil in recent years. Still, Irumbu thirai is an excellent thriller that will entertain you to the core. Next time, you pick up a smartphone, you are gonna think twice. 4/5 Nb: Sanghis and Bhagawatis please stay away!
