Diesel review: Harish Kalyan's film fails to ignite despite strong premise

Director Shanmugam Muthusamy's 'Diesel', starring Harish Kalyan, Vinay Rai, and Athulya Ravi, attempts to tell the story of fisherfolk caught in the world of crude oil smuggling. Despite its ambitious canvas, the film lacks originality and crumbles under derivative storytelling and technical incompetence.

'Diesel' opens with promise. Director Vetri Maaran's commanding voice-over—reminiscent of his 'Vada Chennai'—sets up a compelling premise about fishermen protesting a 17-kilometre crude oil pipeline installation on the shore, protests that end in tragedy and bloodshed. It's the kind of socially conscious setup that suggests substance. But that's where the promise ends.

Years later, Manohar (Sai Kumar) runs a crude oil theft operation with his chemical engineer son Vasu (Harish Kalyan), using the proceeds to help their struggling fishing community. They sell the stolen crude oil to Pathaan (Sachin Khedekar), who processes it into diesel and petrol. When corrupt cop Mayavel (Vinay Rai) and his associate Balamurugan (Vivek Prasanna) muscle in for a cut with an intention of eventually taking over, conflict erupts.

For first ten minutes Diesel promises to be something substantive—a social drama about marginalised fishing communities fighting corporate exploitation. Then Harish Kalyan gets an introduction song, and the film shifts gears to formulaic mass masala mode, losing whatever authenticity it briefly possessed. The song itself is generic and uninspired, doing nothing to establish the character or create excitement. When the film begins to dip, it brings in a romantic track with Athulya Ravi that drags it further into mediocrity.

The world of crude oil smuggling is inherently interesting, ripe with potential for tension and moral complexity. But 'Diesel' squanders this premise with scattershot storytelling that never decides what it wants to be. Watching the film unfold, 'Diesel' feels like 'Vada Chennai' meets 'Kaththi'—taking the former's gritty underworld aesthetic and the latter's social crusader template without understanding what made either work. The result is a hollow imitation that mistakes surface-level references for actual substance.

Harish Kalyan, cast as the saviour fighting for his community, is unconvincing as a guy from North Chennai. He lacks the raw edge, the lived-in mannerisms, and the street-smart swagger the role demands. His body language feels rehearsed rather than instinctive, and his dialogue delivery never finds the rhythm of the character or the milieu. This is particularly disappointing given his solid performances in 'Parking' and 'Lubber Pandhu', which suggested his evoluation as an actor. His misguided attempt at action hero territory here feels like a misstep, a reach for mass appeal that backfires spectacularly.

The film's lack of originality becomes glaring as it progresses. Every plot point feels lifted from somewhere else. The arc where Vasu leads a revolution against the establishment has heavy 'Kaththi' hangover, right down to the beats of how he galvanises the masses. When Vasu and Mayavel clash, there's no tension because we've seen this hero-villain dynamic play out countless times before, executed with far more flair. Vinay Rai, usually reliable in antagonist roles, is given nothing to work with—his character is a one-note corrupt cop without shading or menace.

'Diesel's' story feels chopped, moving from one subplot to another without coherence or purpose. In one bizarre sequence, when Vasu goes into hiding, the film inexplicably shifts to a surreal mermaid fantasy dream involving Athulya Ravi. It's the kind of inexplicable creative choice that makes you question how it went past the discussion room. The sequence has no spark, no narrative justification, and feels airlifted from a different film entirely. Similarly, Vinay Rai's domestic subplot with his wife Ananya adds nothing to the story. Worse, it reduces a capable actor like Ananya to an almost dialogue-less decorative presence, highlighting the film's broader problem with underutilising its cast.

Athulya Ravi's character exists solely to be the hero's love interest and motivational prop. Her chemistry with Harish Kalyan is non-existent, and the film makes no effort to develop her beyond being someone who "helps him in his revolution” without taking into account her lawyer background. When the emotional beats arrive, they land with a thud because the film hasn't earned any of them. At an important juncture, you see a character die, but you feel nothing.

The jarring lip-sync throughout suggests either rushed dubbing or post-production chaos. Whatever the reason, watching actors' mouths move out of sync with their dialogue for over two hours is an endurance test 'Diesel' doesn't earn the right to impose.

The cinematography is functional at best, never capturing the grit of the fishing community or the danger of the oil smuggling world. The action sequences are pedestrian, lacking impact or inventive choreography. The music, aside from Vetri Maaran's opening narration, is forgettable, with songs that feel obligatory rather than integral.

'Diesel' could have been a potent social drama exploring how desperate communities turn to illegal means for survival, or a taut crime thriller about the crude oil black market. Instead, it tries to be everything - mass entertainer, social commentary, love story, action film - and succeeds at none of it.

Harish Kalyan's evolution from his recent successes has hit a roadblock with 'Diesel'. After proving he could carry nuanced, character-driven films, this attempt to break into mass action territory exposes his limitations in that space.

'Diesel' squanders a potentially explosive premise about fishing communities and crude oil theft by drowning it in borrowed ideas, shoddy execution, and technical incompetence.