Review: ‘Enemy of the Smuggler’ offers authenticity but fails to deliver
Tamil cinema’s love of gangster drama has been explored to exhaustion, and the recently-released Enemy of the Smuggler arrives in that crowded space.
Former IRS officer T Samaya Murali directs the film, leading to expectations that his on-field expertise will lend authenticity. While that insider perspective does come across, the film proves that a few good ideas do not necessarily guarantee a good film.
Enemy of the Smuggler — its first enemy being the lukewarm, on-the-nose title — starts intriguingly. It has the markings of a typical gangster flick but hints at promise with a familiar set-up seen in many engaging action dramas: a middle-class customs worker Amar (Saran Shakthi) with a desperate need for money is linked to a 3000-kilo heroin consignment worth ₹25,000 crore being smuggled by an international syndicate member Khadar Bhai (Lal).
When the flashback opens, we learn that Amar joined the smuggling trade to escape a precarious position. With this set-up, director Samaya Murali promises a gritty world of smuggling, but within the first 30 minutes, those promises begin to unravel, the review notes.
