Despite a few logical loopholes and the film’s lengthy run time, Kanithan manages to impress you. Atharvaa is perfect as the solo action hero. He looks dashing, emotes well and dances very well. He is surely here to stay!

Kanithan, thus, is probably the closest Tamil cinema is going to get to Spotlight – that is, if the journalist was played by Rambo. You cannot have a mainstream movie, especially one whose lead actor is making a big bid for stardom, without action sequences – but these are excitingly staged, especially one in which Gowtham takes on an acrobatic villain who seems an expert in what looks like indoor parkour. But it isn’t just thrills. We realise how serious the film is from the body count of the good guys.

Kanithan is the classic case of a commercializing a wonderful core story that spoils the tempo and ends up being unable to sustain audience interest by completely messing up the third act. What could have been a taut thriller ends up exasperating the viewer as the curtains are drawn!