Movie: Dhill

Director: Dharani
Cast: Vikram, Laila, Vivek, Ashish Vidhyarthy, Nasser, Deepa Venkat, Rajasekhar, Kalairani

Velu and Asha's quiet interlude at the beach is disrupted by the boorish, uncivilised behaviour of a man in an inebriated condition, who makes himself a nuisance around the place. When Asha shouts at him for his behaviour, the man turns all his fury on her, the altercation ending in Velu giving the man a sound beating. Velu realises the enormity of his action, when he learns that the man he had taken on was 'Encounter' Shanker the sadistic and the most feared cop in the police force. Velu now has to pit his wits against not only Shanker, but also an unscrupulous politician and rowdies like Aathy whom Shanker used, to settle his scores against his enemies. Velu finds his family intimidated, his girl friend arrested and his best friend killed. Velu who had come very near to realising his ambition of joining the police force now finds his very existence in jeopardy. But Velu has the 'Dhill' or guts to stand up against the man, and finally beat him at his own game. Helping him at times is a disgruntled cop (Nasser) who had been one of the victims of Shanker's sadism.

A re-make of 'Kireedam', a Malayalam film - (Mohanlal starrer), the director has seen to it that the script does not lag anywhere, and has interspersed his screenplay with interesting incidents - like the scene where Shanker stops Velu's two-wheeler and takes a lift, without knowing the face behind the helmet. The vehicle is stopped at a police barricade, the cops on the lookout for some terrorist. Velu is asked to remove his helmet, and how he manages to do so, without Shanker getting a look at him, is a moment of suspense for the audience.

One of those rare actors who uses his body language effectively, and one of those few actors who can bring a gamut of emotions to his face, Vikram brings alive on the screen the character of the youth, who has the toughness of body and spirit and the guts to fight against overwhelming odds. It is a challenging role for the actor after 'Sethu'. Laila could do with a few more expressions, her trademark smile becoming a little too repetitive. Rajasekhar, Kalairani and Deepa Venkat, all artistes from the television and theatre, bring a touch of realism to their roles. Shukran is impressive as the hero's friend. Vivek's comedy does not jell here. National award winning actor Ashish Vidhyarthy, in his debut Tamil film, plays the sadistic cop Shanker to the hilt, a character the audience would love to hate. From Vidyasagar's stable, 'O Nanbane....' and 'Unn Samayilarayil' are catchy.

'Dhill' is a better-than-average entertainer.