Category: Tamil Movie Reviews

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Vikram: A Masala Treat For The Fans Of Kamal, Fahadh And Vijay

The biggest victory of Lokesh Kangaraj’s Vikram is how he balances the three immensely talented actors. The script has been written in such a way that all three get their moments to shine. In essence, Vikram is a stylish action drama. The first twenty-to thirty minutes of the film are a bit of slog with the overload of the information but as you go along the film starts getting better. Vikram is not as engaging as Karthik’s Kaithi which also belonged to the same genre, but it definitely fares better than the director’s last film Master.

The films begins off the supposed death of Karnan (Kamal Hassan).  Karnan is the father of the martyred cop Prapachan (Kalidas Jayaram) We learn that a series of such killings has been happening, the people responsible for this are a group of masked men. This group calls it their war against the system. To stop these killings, the police chief brings in a black cops team. The head of this team is Amar (Fahadh Fasil). Amar starts digging into the past of Karnan. Vijay Sethupati plays a fearsome drug lord called Santhanam. Santhanam is searching for a shipment that would make him a king pin. Meanwhile, Amar is getting more and more puzzled by the many versions that he hears about Karnan. Was Karnan an alcoholic father grieving over the loss of his son, a womanizer or something more than that? But the bigger question is whether he is really dead.

The most intriguing part of Vikram is the investigation scenes of Amar and his team. These portions keep you hooked as you yourself are also trying to figure out who the actual Karnan is. There isn’t a lot of Kamal Hassan in this part but his presence can still be amply felt, both as an actor and also as a character.

The action part before the interval has a solid twist that makes you look forward for the second half. Post interval the plot becomes more straight faced. Just like Kaithi here too you have a bunch of cops holding against an army of gangsters.

The subplot of Karnan and Prapanchan’s baby gives the second half some emotional undercurrent. These portions are pretty good. Kalidas Jayaram has a small role but the actor does a good job nevertheless.

As I earlier said all the three actors get their moments to shine. Kamal Hassan packs a punch in both the action and the emotional bits. His scenes with the little grandson give some heat touching moments. Fahadh Faasil sails through his role with his usual aplomb. He shines the brightest in the first half. Vijay Sethupati’s Santhanam is an extension of what he did in Master but the actor still makes an impact with his villainous turn. His interactions with the family members raise some chuckle worthy moments.

What pulls down Vikram significantly are the overdose of action. There is no denying that they have been solidly choreographed, but these scenes come too frequently from the middle of the second half.

Also the suspense factor is no longer there once the identity of Karanan is revealed. The film becomes more generic after this in terms of treatment. As a result the film starts feeling very prolonged. The editing department is another minus for Vikram. At least thirty minutes of the film could have been easily chopped off. Because of the excessive length the impact of Surya’s cameo lessens down.

It also doesn’t help that the supporting characters with the exception of Kalidas are mostly gap fillers.  

In a nutshell, watch Vikram if you are a fan of the three actors. But be prepared for all the bloodshed.

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Thalaivi: Starts Off Promisingly But Loses Steam Midway

The life of Jayalalithaa makes for an engaging dramatic story. She was someone who treaded her own path in the industry and later became an iron- fisted politician. There are highs and lows in her life both as an actress and also as a politician. Not surprisingly many biopics were announced after death. You have already had Gautam Menon’s web series Queen starring Ramya Krishna as Jayalalithaa. There was also the announcement of Nithya Menon playing Jayalalithaa alongside the Kangana Ranaut’s one directed by AL Vijay.

Out of the two AL Vijay’s one has been creating lot of buzz. Apart from the real life personality Kangana playing the title role has also helped in the buzz. After seeing Thalaivii the first thing that comes to your mind is how much of Kangana’s presence affected the film particularly in the second half. Al Vijay does a good job in exploring in the Jayalalithaa and MGR relationship along with the impact that MGR had in her joining politics. The MGR character is played by the terrific Aravind Swamy. But the film dips badly in the second half and never really recovers.

There is nothing wrong in playing to the gallery but AL Vijay along with writer Vijayendra Prasad overplayed the masala. It also doesn’t help that the film becomes melodramatic. It is a shame because Thalaivii had lot of potential.

Thailavii begins off with a disturbing scene where Jayalalithaa is molested in the Vidhan Sabha. She compares herself to Draupadi and makes a vow that she will enter the assembly only after becoming the chief minister. From there we move to Jaya’s acting journey. We see her dancing around the tress and also wearing some striking retro costumes. The first half is mostly devoted to establishing the bond between Jaya and MGR. We see MGR helping her in being more comfortable in front of the camera. Slowly Jaya starts having a significant space in MGR’s life. It doesn’t go down too well with Raj Arun who plays the trusted man of MGR. There are also glimpses of Karunanidhi played by Nassar and MGR entering into politics. The second half takes a big shift as the plot looks at Jayalalithaa’s political entry and how she became a revered leader.

One of the things that AL Vijay gets right is recreation of the period. The atmospherics in the first half fits the time zone aptly. The costumes are beautiful without making it come across as gaudy. The set design is also appropriate and there are times where you will get nostalgic.

Aravind Swamy, as I earlier said, is brilliant. He does an outstanding job in making sure that MGR doesn’t come across a caricature. He particularly shines in the second half as the politician. His scenes with Kangana are emotionally quite moving. A scene which I really liked was after her bharatnatyam performance. He says to her that if he hadn’t come as a chief minister he would have whistled there itself. After that we see him closing the door and giving a loud whistle much to Jaya’s surprise.

The biggest issue with Thalaivii is the rushed portrayal of Jayalalithaa’s entry into politics. An important incident related to the misuse of MGR’s Midday Meal scheme doesn’t have the emotional impact that it needed to have. There are many instances in the second half where you feel that the makers are playing to Kangana’s image instead of focusing on the core story.

The character of Karunanidhi also doesn’t leave any impact whatsoever. Nassar has the presence but is severely underutilised and comes across as a caricature.

Coming to Kangana Ranaut the actress tries hard to fill in the big shoes. She fares better as an actress than as a politician. The makeup and the effort to look hefty in the second half just doesn’t work.

A personality like Jayalalithaa deserves a far better attempt than this.

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Master: Two Vijays, A Juvenile Home And Drugs

Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Master is a rare mainstream film where the villain gets equal footage to the hero. In fact we are introduced first to Vijay Sethupathi’s Bhavani rather than the hero Vijay Thalapathy and the reason for his evilness is also well established by the director. This plays a huge factor in the exciting face-off between the hero and the villain at the end. Plot wise Master is a routine good versus bad story but to the director’s credit he does package it in a fairly interesting way.
In simple terms the story is about an alcoholic professor JD played by Vijay Thalapathy. After working as a college professor he is sent to a juvenile home to reform the young children there. There his life takes a huge turn due to Bhavani. The rest is about how Master wins over Bhavani and also reforms the children and others who work for Bhavani.

An important part of the film is the realistic picture of life in juvenile homes and how the young prisoners there are treated. Lokesh Kanagaraj succeeds in making you empathize with the cause of juvenile children through JD. The major reason for this is how the characters of the young children have been written. He is also effective in showing the transformation of JD in the second half. There is also a strong message from the director about giving up alcohol and drugs.

The comic scenes where Vijay Thalapathy talks about why he is single are quite hilarious. You have references to Titanic, Premam, Attarintiki Daaredi and other movies. These scenes work well as they raise ample chuckles. Malavika Mohanan, the female lead has nothing much to do, like in most commercial movies.

Anirudh Ravichander’s background music is a major asset for the film. His background score elevates many of the film’s action scenes and slow-mo moments. The songs are also quite good.Performance wise Vijay Thalapathy is good but Vijay Sethupathi is the show stealer with his solid acting. Apart from being an effective villain the actor also shows his comic side in the scenes of banter. Master is a typical commercial film but well packaged.