The face of Tamil cinema has been changing drastically over the years and so are the expectations of the viewers. People are exposed to a lot of international films, so they expect Tamil movies to be made on a bigger canvas.
Tamil films have been providing a bunch of options before the audiences to choose - from realistic melodramas to mind throttling action to terrifying horror flicks, but if there is one genre our filmmakers haven’t tested their hands on yet, that would be a SPACE film. Tik Tik Tik might have some flaws but it will always be known for its brave attempt to be India’s first space movie.
What works very well is the special-effects - a real attention grabber for its budget. Tik Tik Tik starts off with an explosion, a small 8M asteroid hits Chennai which gives the government a lead about a bigger asteroid that is waiting to destroy nearly half the population of Tamil Nadu in 7 days. And to stop this disaster, the DSD appoints a special team to steal a powerful missile from a high-security vault.
So the plan is to steal the missile and blast the asteroid, If all goes well, the asteroid will crack into two pieces that will brush harmlessly past the earth. Needless to say, all does not go well. The team faces plenty of obstacles in the process and what happens, in the end, is all Tik Tik Tik is about.
Jayam Ravi plays a larger-than-life character with plenty of heroic moments. While some moments have clicked with the audience, some did seem forced. His expertise as a con artist and a bunch of other men and a female army official is called into service by the Indian government when DSD wakes up to find a humongous asteroid less than half a month away from a rendezvous with Tamil Nadu’s atmosphere.
The plot doesn't have realism going for it, but it does have some great entertainment and special effects. A perfect blend of science fiction and Indian typical masala elements. There is a decent mix of humor and sentiment in this adventure thriller.
Jayam Ravi does an impeccable job carrying the film on his shoulders. Ramesh Thilak and Arjunan try to provide the occasional comic relief while Nivetha Pethuraj lightens up the screen with her glam quotient in the initial phase of the film and she fulfilled the requirements of the character with an apt performance.
Director Sakthi Soundarajan has concentrated on the commercial aspects more than the drama of the people who are sweating it out to save humanity, which might well be in respect to the box office prospects of the film but however, one feels it doesn’t let you get attached to the characters much.
Jayam Ravi and his son Aarav’s on-screen chemistry was heartwarming to see in the Kurumba song. Both the songs from Imman were good and the BGM worked decently well. Art director SS Moorthy deserves a special mention to recreate a space set in Chennai. Cinematographer S Venkatesh took a challenging task and made it look easy, the visuals were impressive.
Tik Tik Tik has some good graphics work, stunning sound design and a traditional dose of sentiment. If you don’t look at logic and feel a movie is meant to entertain, Tik Tik Tik will do just that.