He thrashes a man in front of his little son, cuts off another's arm, and even hits a pleading woman who offers to have sex with him so that he doesn't harm her husband. Having grown up as an orphan, Durai has no qualms about physically assaulting the hapless victims of Paulraj. Those who fail to pay back the money are given a special treatment by his debt collector Dorai (Prabhudeva). Harikumar sets the story against the backdrop of the Koyambedu market, where Paulraj (Shathru), a loan shark, lends money at high interest to the shopkeepers. The filmmaker acknowledges the Korean film's influence right in the title card, including a thank you note to Kim Ki-duk, who is given a story credit. It is then that you realise how effectively debutant director Harikumar (a well-known choreographer and actor already) has imbibed the essence of this film's inspiration - Korean auteur Kim Ki-duk's Pieta (2012). All these contribute to make the film quite engaging. The scenes play out in an unhurried manner, there is a lot of silence, allowing the scenes to breathe, the shabby-chic visual tone, with moody lighting (the cinematography is by Vignesh Vasu), is striking at the same time. One of the things that strike you right in the initial scenes of Theal is how quiet it is for a film involving violence.
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