Thiruttu Rail

After getting into trouble with a cop during a bar fight, a group of friends board a train to Chennai to stay low. One of the youngsters, Saravanan, is approached by a director who claims that he wants to cast him as the hero in his film, which is a biopic of a real-life gangster, Bhaskar. The cops plan an encounter operation against Bhaskar, but they shoot Saravanan, who is a look-alike of the gangster. And well into the second half, we get the revelation that the biopic was Bhaskar's master plan to evade the cops. But Bhaskar has made one miscalculation. He has failed to take into account Saravanan's friends! In capable hands, Thiruttu Rayil would have made for an engaging action film, but for almost half its running time, the director, Thirupathi, choses to focus on the mundane stuff — scenes of young men drinking and talking pointlessly, and a romantic track between two uninteresting characters. To make matters worse, the hero, Rakshan is a complete non-actor and watching him try to emote, fight or dance is at once cringe-inducing and comical. The heroine, Kethi comes across as a school girl who has found her way into a film set. It is only Charan Selvam, who makes some impact in his dual roles. Amidst the general dullness, we get a sliver of a plot — involving the gangster and his look-alike — that comes to life only in the final few minutes. By then, the audience has either chosen to doze off or fiddle with their phones or even walk out of the theatre.