Anuj Chakrapani
By Anuj Chakrapani
There is a moment early in debutant director Subash K. Raj’s Tamil film Blast where Nila (Preity Mukundhan) settles a stranger’s dispute with a local land grabber. After knocking down a handful of men, she simply picks up her dupatta and walks away, as though nothing extraordinary had happened. It is a deceptively simple moment, but one that tells us almost everything about Blast. In a genre where action heroes are often celebrated as much for their swagger as for their bravery, Blast quietly chooses a different path. It allows its heroes to remain ordinary people, even when they are capable of extraordinary things.
The film revolves around Rajaraman (Arjun), his wife Neelaveni (Abhirami) and their daughter Nila, a close-knit family bound together not just by affection but also by their shared proficiency in martial arts. Their fighting abilities never feel like screenplay devices introduced to rescue the plot. Instead, they are established as an intrinsic part of who they are, making every action sequence feel earned. It also comes as a pleasant surprise to see Arjun, once celebrated as Tamil cinema’s “Action King”, happily playing second fiddle in a narrative that is largely driven by two women. The decision lends the film an ensemble quality rarely seen in mainstream action entertainers.
The family’s life is interrupted when they cross paths with Varun (John Kokken, looking like Bobby Deol’s twin from Animal), a powerful criminal with plans of mining a precious stone buried beneath an idyllic settlement, which threatens to displace thousands of innocent villagers. Their collision with the antagonists is built on a series of coincidences, but the screenplay does enough to keep the proceedings engaging as Rajaraman and his family find themselves standing between the villains and their objective.
What makes Blast particularly enjoyable is the way it subverts familiar action movie conventions without ever drawing attention to itself. Its heroes do not deliver lengthy sermons, nor do they view themselves as crusaders fighting for a larger cause. When decisive moments arrive, they simply act according to the values they have grown up with. Their restraint is perhaps the film’s greatest strength. Heroism here is never performative; it is instinctive.
The action sequences themselves are crisply staged. Whether it is the amusing stretches involving Nila’s new workplace or the brief confrontation with a dreaded criminal, the film understands the value of brevity. Each action sequence delivers its impact and moves on before fatigue can set in. This is a refreshing change from commercial entertainers that often mistake lengthy actions scenes for excitement.
The screenplay is less assured when it turns its attention to Varun and his associates. While their larger objective is compelling enough, the ease with which they discuss murders and other criminal activities over routine phone calls, coupled with the casual transportation of massive quantities of counterfeit currency in broad daylight, makes their operation feel less sophisticated than it ought to. There is also a fine line between making villains detestable and reducing them to caricatures, and Blast occasionally finds itself on the wrong side of that divide. Fortunately, the warmth and relatability of Rajaraman’s family more than compensate for these shortcomings, ensuring that our emotional investment never wavers.
The film also deserves credit for staying grounded despite its larger-than-life premise. There is very little or unnecessary glorification of violence. Moments are allowed to breathe, making the family feel like people one could plausibly encounter in everyday life. Ironically, it is this ordinariness that makes their extraordinary feats all the more believable.
Ironically, the film’s least exciting action stretch is its climax. After a series of tightly choreographed and engaging set pieces, the finale packs in one development after another, yet never quite achieves the exhilaration of the action that comes before it. There is also an isolated moment involving one of the otherwise likeable characters reaching for a cigarette before making an important decision, a directorial choice that feels somewhat at odds with the film’s otherwise understated treatment of heroism.
Despite these minor missteps, Blast succeeds because it reimagines what a commercial action film can look like. It asks us to admire its characters not for the battles they fight, but for the quiet conviction with which they fight them. Blast reminds us that courage need not be loud and doing the right thing does not always require applause. The closing moments tease a sequel, but even if that never materializes, Blast has enough personality to deserve a franchise of its own.
Anuj Chakrapani loves music and cinema among all art forms. He believes their beauty lies in their interpretation, and that the parts are more than the sum. Contact: anuj.chakrapani@gmail.com.
