There is an episode involving a cop’s walkie-talkie that is stolen in the 2016 Malayalam film Action Hero Biju. While that stretch is used in that film mainly for comedy, underneath it, you get a sense of how serious such a loss can be to a cop. So, imagine the gravity of the situation in which Sathya (Vetri, whose hurt-puppy expression helps the character), the protagonist of 8 Thotakkal, finds himself in. He is someone who had to spend years in juvenile prison for a crime he did not commit, and has managed to get into the police force as a last resort. And he is ‘clean’ (as another cop describes him, “Yaar enna sonnaalum endha vambukkum pogadha mudhugelumbilladha nallavan”), much to the chagrin of the station’s inspector Gunasekar (Mime Gopi), for whom the job spells money and power. In fact, Sathya’s predicament is partly the result of Gunasekar’s attempt at getting back at his subordinate for going behind his back and helping out an elderly man whom he has been harassing.
( 3.5 / 5 )