Bison Movie Review | Vishal Menon | THR India

In this review, film critic Vishal Menon explores Mari Selvaraj's "Bison," a gripping sports drama that masterfully prioritizes human drama over kabaddi action. Vishal highlights how editor Sakthi Thiru's extraordinary work builds scenes like stacking Jenga blocks, creating powerful visual metaphors through crosscuts and montages. The film follows Kitan (played by Dhruv), a boy from an oppressed community in Tuticorin, whose journey from village outcast to international kabaddi player is marked by constant struggle. Vishal examines how Mari uses sports as a metaphor for emancipation, with powerful sequences like scissors cutting caste-marking bands during training montages, underlining how kabaddi becomes Kitan's only route to break free from societal shackles.

Vishal praises the film's complex character dynamics, particularly between Arun Vijay's Pandya Rajan and Lal's Kandasamy, who represent opposing forces that constantly pull Kitan in different directions. He notes how Dhruv delivers a powerhouse performance with minimal dialogue, expressing devastation through subtle expressions that make viewers feel his powerlessness viscerally. With Ezhil Arasu K's stunning cinematography capturing hundreds of unforgettable frames and the writing creating some of Tamil cinema's most complex characters in recent times, Vishal declares this as one of the year's best films and among the absolute best sports dramas from Tamil cinema, leaving audiences breathless with its powerful "Kabaddi, Kabaddi, Kabaddi" moments.