Irumbu Thirai (Iron Curtain) - A digital thriller. [Tamil] 2018

Recently watched this movie with my folks, sometimes movies become an educational tool, especially for those who want to be technologically savvy but do not realize the pitfalls associated with it.

Irumbu Thirai deals with digital spoofing and phishing. The movie shows how easy it is to steal digital data or even your identity in today's world. All it takes is a little know-how and gullible people ready to believe in fairy tales.

It is chilling to see how easily the data provided by the unsuspecting public can be misused for other purposes. The scenes explaining how technology can be misused is simple and easily understood by the layman.

Performance wise, Vishal carries the movie aptly, his aversion to taking loans and getting into debt, and his dysfunctional relationship with his father - Delhi Ganesh - who's take loans and then flees from his creditors to avoid returning the money forms the meat of their bond. The scene where he loses his cool at his father is particularly heart touching. The pain and the sorrow in that relationship are beautifully captured.

Arjun Sarja as the antagonist - While Devil is good, but the movie does not build him up enough for the villain to stand out on his own. Sarja hold's his part but the menace that Aravind Swaamy brought to the role of Siddharth Abhimanyu by just being on the screen is missing and that impacts the effect of the villain. The comparisons with Arvind Swamy's performance in Thani Oruvan are inevitable. Arjun is not introduced until the 2nd half by his actual name. The viewer only sees him on screen against the backdrop of flickering screens using his hacker handle. The calm, collected way in which he threatens Vishal forms the highlight of his introduction and when he meets with Vishal for the first time, he tells him that he cheats and defrauds people for a living because he can. That's pretty brutal and the film does not try to gloss over the fact that people cheat because they can and because they can get away with it.

Overall the movie is a great watch and if it creates even a little bit of awareness with people about the dark side of the internet and makes them a bit more cautious about using their phones, social media and their digital activities in a responsible manner then it would be a cathartic victory.