Sony LIV’s Tamil Rockerz is a thrilling tale of piracy, filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts. Director Arivazhagan and writer Manoj Kumar Kalaivanan manage to create an exciting premise in this Tamil series, interwoven with gripping instances from real life.
The title is a reference to the notorious piracy site Tamil Rockers, which would leak movies, shows and music days before their release, or shortly after. This allowed people to watch the latest entertainment offerings without paying, and hurt the Tamil film industry.
The drama in this web series draws upon real-life incidents from sometime around 2018. One such instance was when Tamil Rockers allegedly leaked Mohanlal-starrer Pulimurugan online, along with Pranav Mohanlal’s debut film, Aadhi.
The show opens with the chilling visual of a producer dying by suicide after his much-anticipated film is leaked online. What follows is an exploration of the world of piracy and filmmaking.
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Unrealistic characters
Arun Vijay makes his OTT debut as vigilante cop Rudra, who has many-a-personal demons to deal with. Tasked with stopping the leak of a Tamil action star’s film, Rudra encounters the murky, complicated world of piracy.
He deploys a combination of good-ol’ legwork with cyber forensics to crack down on the shadowy group. From profiling Tamil Rockerz kingpin Daya to decoding the organisation’s modus operandi, Rudra has an enormous task at hand. He is aided in the investigation by Sandhya (Vani Bhojan) and Bhanu (Vinodini Vaidyanathan).
While the acting is top-notch and believable, the characters themselves feel unrealistic. Rudra’s personal tragedy evokes sympathy but isn’t convincing as a plot point. It would be fair to call it a regurgitated premise. After all, cop characters with similar drive are a common sight in Indian movies.
The culprits themselves appear as cardboard cutouts without much depth. This defies Arivazhagan’s otherwise insightful take on unexplored aspects of the Tamil film industry—the good, the bad and the downright corrupt practices.
Mathi, played by Azgaham Perumal, is a fascinating character. While he is at the receiving end of piracy, he uses all means at his disposal to conquer the box office.
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Where it falters
The premise is interesting, but there is no element of surprise in Tamil Rockerz. The culprits are unmasked in the second episode itself, which does away with the element of a classic investigative reveal.
The show is without a doubt an insightful take on the many kinds of piracy that exist and how each is carried out, but it falters due to its predictability.
What it does manage well is to show the juxtaposing traits of Tamil fandom. While film enthusiasts go to the extent of getting tattoos of their favourite stars, they are also willing to watch movies for free, through any medium they deem appropriate—legal or not.
The pirates are almost Robin Hood figures. But they take away other people’s earnings.
The show is a thrilling insight into the inner workings of Tamil Rockers, as well as the piracy underworld. While it might make a good watch for the uninitiated, those familiar need a fierier ‘tadka.’
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)