There was undoubtedly an interesting film somewhere involving interchanging and transmigration of souls. Bogan, however, is certainly not that film.
Bogan is yet another example that an interesting idea needn’t make for a compelling film. The film suffers from a total lack of imagination and is brought down further by some flat storytelling with few ups and downs, no clever twists and turns and some truly cringe-worthy sequences. What (I presume) was supposed to be an edge of the seat cat and mouse game between the hero and villain is let down by some lazy plotting, the usual pandering to some of the worst of commercial Tamil cinema tropes and above all, a disappointingly weak central performance by the hero, Jayam Ravi.
If anyone gives this sluggishly paced film any redeeming moments, it is Arvind Swami thoroughly enjoying himself as the ‘Bogan’ or the hedonist, Aadhithya, who is able to transport his soul to other people’s bodies and then use them to usurp wealth. He acquits himself quite well in both shades of his role, as the last descendent of a royal family living the good life, and as the good, strong policeman, Vikram, whose soul is put into his body. Jayam Ravi, on the other hand, is just about adequate enough as Vikram but comes up dreadfully short once Aadhithya takes over his body, totally lacking Arvind Swami’s natural style and swagger. Hansika proves yet again what an embarrassment she is as an actress though it has to be said that her bimbette character and the awfully written romantic track with Jayam Ravi gives her nothing to work with. Nasser is sadly wasted yet again while Akshara Gowda makes a solid enough impact as a tough, kick-ass female cop.
On the technical side, Imman’s music is average, the camerawork so-so, while Anthony’s flourishing cuts fail to lift the film.
All in all, there was undoubtedly an interesting film somewhere involving interchanging and transmigration of souls. Bogan, however, is certainly not that film.
Tamil, Action, Thriller, Color