Movie Review – Leo

An actor in fine form and a director who believes in his craft, sell this mediocre film, thanks to the sincerity.

Thanks to a lot of backlash, it took me a while to watch the film. For the hype it generated before it, I too, like many of you, wanted the film to fail. But it was surprisingly cool. Good that I already got to know about the fake flashback and boring second half. I was prepared for a snooze fest. But I was happy how Lokesh made an ambitious project, within his limits, in a blockbuster format movie. Lokesh and now Nelson, even though are lifting the standards of blockbuster genre with their way of handling cinema, it’s sad to see that they are inspiring a bunch of youngsters in just making a good film as a road to a big star’s project.

The film starts with an amazing Sandy and his gang stealing a house. Their whole part was done superbly and left to surprise as what they’re capable with, may be in some other film of LCU. Of course the looks and the way Sandy behaved was a template psycho character, yet it still worked. In fact the whole first half worked like a charm. It’s lovely to see how Lokesh is making a genre of his own, with this fake identity thing. He makes the story with a lot more respect than other masala filmmakers do.

The much coveted Hyena sequence happens next. It’s a reasonably well choreographed sequence. But don’t know why Vijay never gets his wig right. VFX was top notch. There are bound to be comparisons with the grizzly bear sequence of ‘The Revenant’ (a film and a sequence which I didn’t like) but it’s understandable that they couldn’t go to the level of that, with the limited expertise and budget available. Overall the sequence was a fair deal and how it acted as a setup for many things in the movie, about Parthi’s (Vijay) affinity towards animals, Joshy’s (Gautham Vasudev Menon) shooting skills, Siddhu’s (Mathew Thomas) javelin skills etc. Only because of that scene, in the second half when Siddhu throws the Javelin at Parthi, it was that powerful, otherwise it would have been bland like Andrea with the bow and arrow in Master. Also loved the suddenness of the title card post. It was short and sweet.

Vijay was at his charming best. I’m afraid I’m becoming a fan of him. I hate to confess but he’s aging like a fine wine. In this film as a father of two kids, his chemistry with them were amazing. Especially the “Karu Karu Karupayi” sequence, he absolutely owned it. Both Trisha and her character was dull and boring and there was absolutely no chemistry between the two of them, which was sad to see. It’s really difficult to be a woman testosterone filled Lokiverse. The only kind of women which would appeal in his films would be like that of Agent Tina (Vasanthi).

The highlight of the film would definitely be the fight sequences, whether or not it was clinical, whether or not it worked for you, each one was taken with so much effort and sincerity, every fight had a theme. It was like watching Shankar film’s song. Even though by now it had become redundant, he was the first person who invested (not just the money) on songs. But hopefully this concept doesn’t get beaten to death and become an excuse for bad writing.

By the time, the glass breaks and we hear the “Badass”, Lokesh almost sells the film, with the help of terrific Vijay. Anything and everything which happens in the film post that (except for that click of a tongue to call Subramani) is him trying to have a conclusive end to the film. The flashback was a disaster, especially as soon as Elisa Das (Madonna Sebastian) appears in the film. How are we supposed to sympathize for a character we had just seen? And Leo escaping the place too wasn’t convincing.

It’s followed by few high octane sequences and one sudden breakdown of Parthi in front of his wife. In cricket, you can say how well a batsman is in form, by the sound of ball striking the willow. That scene felt like it. Vijay doesn’t do that type of sequence anymore. There he doesn’t cheat only his wife but us too. Such terrific acting. The character reveal in the end was just ‘meh’ but how Lokesh has cleverly found out what works for Vijay and what doesn’t is shown in the end by his supposed comic take in the dinner table and his hesitancy in picking the call in the climax. A similar sequence would be there in ‘Master’ where he’d with his students and climb the stairs saying, “apdi enatha than da pesitu irupanga”. Its minute things like these which Lokesh has extracted from Vijay, which makes the film nice.

I hate to believe that he’s adding songs just for the market. I guess he too enjoys it. It was okay for “Pathala Pathala”, even though unnecessary, everyone were happy to see Andavar having his due of fun but “Naan Ready” was totally unnecessary and cringe. I don’t want to read too much into his idea of drug free society and LCU. It just feels like the message in ‘Thulluvadho Ilamai’, where they show everything and ask them not to do.

Movie Review – Jai Bhim

Rings the right bell, almost

Probably one of the most impactful film of recent times. It’s good to see big actors breaking the shackles and going into roles like this. Between the concept, I’d rate ‘Nerkonda Paarvai’ better than this, not only because it had a bigger star but it’s far tougher and uncomfortable movie. But as a film, ‘Jai Bhim’ was better made. ‘Jai Bhim’ for most part keeps us in the grips, if not for the minor flaws. But it’s not easy to make a film on a definite subject. The director would always be confused on which route to take between documentary and traditional film making. This film too suffers somewhat in the process but doesn’t fail, thankfully.

Not a big fan of Surya, but he was at his scintillating best in ‘Jai Bhim’ with a serious character, much closer to his personality. Thankfully he need not appear as a rough guy shouting his guts out, in the process of appearing raw. The characters that best suit for him would be like that of ‘Ayan’ or ‘24’. A charming lad getting in the midst of action. That’s where he appears at home. Other characters, it just feels like he’s trying too much. With only exception being ‘Pithamagan’, easily his best and totally unexpected of him. People would think ‘Nandha’ was on the same lines, but that character felt mechanical. Vikram having aced ‘Sethu’ and ‘Pithamagan’, Suriya’s character in Nandha felt like it was more conscious to not imitate what Vikram did in those films, than to bring its own flavors in the film.

Coming to the film, the film was on point right from the first scene. We get to know what we’re going to witness, so it was just a matter of time before it was going to get hard hitting. Even though Rajakannu (Manikandan) and Sengeni’s (Lijomol Jose) part was short lived, it was sweet and makes us want more. Many a time, I used to see Nari Koravar’s and wanted to research/make a film about them, so I was happy to see something on the lines of that in the film, but the film was more about the injustice they face than about their lifestyle. Happy that my subject was not touched upon, but I’d have really loved to see about their life before their plight.

Within quick succession Rajakannu gets caught by police and the investigation starts. Adv. Chandru (Suriya) comes to fore. His introduction was dramatic and needless but otherwise he did a fair job. Thankfully the makers didn’t do any prosthetic make up to make Suriya look like Chandru, because that was not the point of film. But every other actor barring Prakash Raj, didn’t make any impact. With only exception being Lijomol Jose, what an actor! Except for that one shot where she sits in rain with her kid, her scenes were lit. Be it the pride when walking to her place by not getting on jeep or when talking to Suriya with sympathy about gold in her thaali, she was lovely and a pleasure to watch. Even though she appears throughout the film, the way she makes herself small and even invisible is a trait of a great actor. In a way the director achieves to show how small and unfilled their community is, in the midst of civilization.

Having the likes of Guru Somasundaram, M. S. Bhaskar and wasting them in such small roles was a disgrace. In fact, even Rajisha Vijayan doesn’t have any role. It was the second time I was seeing her character wasted. First in ‘Karnan’ and now this film. She was one of the actors whom you’d wish to remember to be the character you love, than as an actor. Just like how Emma Watson would always be remembered as Hermione. But she broke it and came out in flying colors in ‘The Perks of being a Wallflower’. I thought Rajisha would do a similar thing in any one of the films, unfortunately she doesn’t. I’d have been happy to remember her as ‘June’ and never saw her afterwards.

For all the good things, why were there so many songs in the film. especially the romantic song in the middle which comes as a flashback was so so needless. Spoils the flow of our film. Its unacceptable to mention that it was added for a commercial value. It’s not a film which you’d do adjustment. If the songs had been removed and the film had been trimmed by twenty minutes, it would have been even more impactful. Thankfully except for the scene where Sengeni (love the name) and her kid get drenched in rain during climax, there was not much of dramatic scenes.

It was not a flawless film, the narrative was dodgy, there were too many scenes depending on shock value, but the attempt altogether feels like a decent, impactful film. Wish the making would have been on the lines of ‘Pariyerum Perumal’ to have made it a more complete film.

Movie Review – Vikram

Once upon a time, there lived a… oh, enough said!

First of all, it’s a great pleasure to see Kamal on screen. Happy about his unkept promise of not planning to act again. It’d have been a bummer if he had not made films any further. Quite curiously, for a Kamal film, the movie generated a lot of hype, first among me because of lot of coincidence like my name, birthday, friends name etc. but even amongst others, there were people wanting to catch the movie desperately, after the first review was out. Having said all that, I didn’t except such a movie from Kamal, it was a shocker, as cliched as it my sound, it was another truly different movie.

After settling to the FDFS ambience, personalized Kasi theatre engagement, papers flying, bouncers shouting, whistles, videos etc. it was finally time for the film to start. For a full-blown action film, a song like that at the start was needless. Don’t know why it was kept. Yea it was fun to see Kamal enjoying himself but was it apt for the film is the question and the song wasn’t done with full conviction. Like my friend pointed out when the song ended midway, “ipo lam pattu podrathukae bayapadranga” (nowadays, people are afraid to keep songs in the film). And he was right, I felt how Lokesh was in two minds when he wanted to both have a song as well as not have it. From that point to the interval, it was a blast, with only one bad scene where the prostitute tells what Kamal does physically to her. It was emotionally cringe.

The first scene of the film where Kamal dies would have been a shocker for many. Even though we all know its not the end of him, the way the director delays the character entry and keeps us in hooks was something no director had done before. When was a hero, let alone a big budget mass action hero, had appeared only during the interval. That’s what makes Kamal different from others and he must be appreciated for that. For a comeback film he appears only in the interval block. With that, he answers the the complaint about how he never gives chance to other actors, in style. The interval scene seriously is a blast. I was telling how it could have been one of the best first parts of the movie if it had been released separately. It would have had a ‘Kill Bill’ kind of impact with the Tamil audience.

The problem starts with second half. I’d rather not say problem but the film fails to elevate the protagonist like it does for other actors. After a brilliant Fahad Fasil show in the first half with menacing Vijay Sethupathi. The scenes with Narain, Tina and everyone of his aid works big time but for Kamal with a couple of punch dialogues and absolutely needless “Nalavara, Ketavara” dialogue, it was only compulsive applause he was getting. May be just like ‘Jigarthanda’, people loved the first half so much so that they couldn’t hate the second half. They were applauding for the Vikram who was in search in the first half rather than the Kamal on screen. I was in fact shocked that the film became such a huge hit. I thought I’d be writing about how it’s a great film which was again misunderstood by audience but I’m doing the opposite. I was proved wrong by the audience who were able to accept the fact that in spite of Kamal being in the film, it was a Lokesh film in which Kamal has acted.

Action sequences could have been definitely better. His mannerisms of shaking his shoulder were done one touch too many. Probably the only action scene that worked was the Tina transformation. Even though I guessed, it was lovely. Also the names of all the agents were displayed at great junctures. Probably the film shouldn’t have been shown with the title at first, rather should have been shown only when the Agent Vikram’s name gets displayed during the climax.

I know it’s wrong to expect an emotional performance in an action film, but I felt it would have been nice if some more time had been given for him with his grandson, their chemistry was lovely (Remember the dad son scene in ‘Uttama Villain’, can it get any better than that). Especially the crying scene which Lokesh repeatedly points out gave us a glimpse of Don Corleone scene with his grandkids in the field. Maybe it was intentional. Whether it was intentional or not, another inspiration definitely seemed to have come with Nolan’s batman series. The interval close up shot of Kamal, the lights off scene from marriage hall, the restaurant scene where the kid looks for his grandfather etc. But the important thing is everyone of this scene worked. In fact, everything did except elevating Kamal as a mass actor.

The climax could have bene brilliant and explosive as Lokesh intended if only had ‘Kaithi’ not come earlier. As soon as we saw guns and drugs in the first scene, we knew what was going to be the climax and cinematically there was nothing new in the climax blow up. It was underwhelming to be honest. With ‘Kaithi’, we got a terrific feel, the silence after the gunshot there was lovely, here it was just a repeat. Even Kamal bringing the barrel to ground, Fahad Fasil rescuing the kid was all cliched.

People fondly call this a Loki Universe, it is nice to see him get all the love. He too calls it his world. It is good to see him doing a connect with his other movies and be proud about it but hope it doesn’t become a template and he yields to a compulsion to connect every movie of his after this.

Movie Review – Master

A Great Vijay Film which ends up inches short of being Greatest Vijay Film

Just like how ‘Petta’ was for Rajni, ‘Master’ was for Vijay. It was carefully made in such a way that it’d satisfying the big screen viewers. That too coming at a time where going to theatres has become a luxury. My bad that I missed both the films in theatres. ‘Master’ had a great storyline, a pure original, and the way it was carefully molded into a commercial film deservers an applause. Lokesh seemed to have mastered the art of it. May be because ‘Maanagaram’ didn’t have any expectations and he was in no pressure to give importance to specific actors and screen space between them, it still remains his best film but with ‘Master’ he had bettered ‘Kaithi’ by at least an inch. Just couldn’t wait for ‘Vikram’…

Loved the way the film started, with the way villain being introduced, it was like a proper man vs man type of thriller. May be Lokesh needn’t have let Vijay Sethupathi dub for a younger Bhavani (a terrific Mahendran), it could have given more curiosity for the viewers to know whether it was going to be the hero or the villain. Or maybe he thought the villain entry was more powerful than the hero’s so didn’t want to disappoint audience by being compared. The jail, fist punch, and for a change, a man’s physique also worked towards building the character. It was like proper Bane type of pure evil entry.

Vijay on the other hand gets a forced action entry. The action sequence of which was nothing interesting. In fact the action sequences of the entire film was a bummer. Except for that one shot where the camera rotates in the climax fight between JD and Bhavani, there was not a single innovative action sequence. It would have been a lot better if he had been introduced with the “Vaathi Coming” theme. It would have given authenticity to the character. May be even the film could have been titled ‘Vaathi’, that would’ve packed a punch.  May be Lokesh would have even written film to start Vijay’s character with this theme and may be forced to do an action sequence prior to that because in the theme, we don’t see Vijay’s face for a while. It’s pointless to shoot it like that when we had already seen his face. This looked like a blunder from a man who had made one of the terrific mass opening scenes in Tamil cinema with ‘Kaithi’.

Post the introduction scenes of both the leads, Vijay tremendously grows into the character. It was like watching a man on form. He was prolific throughout the movie. On the other hand Vijay Sethupathi was the same old lethargic man. I guess they wanted someone who could elevate a mediocre villain character so they put him. But it’s not a solid character which would work with just anyone. Also the lathery and dialogue delivery has become monotonous. The whole hero vs villain setup was like a repeat of ‘Petta’. Don’t know what’s with college masters and wardens all of a sudden, they’ve become heroic.

Other characters are barely there. It was pretty useless to have a heroine. Lokesh could have very well done without it and could’ve got a brownie point for it. Andrea as an archer was a joke, the entire lorry fight was a joke. The dialogues in the end didn’t appeal at all. In fact the whole move got tamed after Vijay becomes a good boy (read as trimming his beard). In spite of very little screen space Mahendran as a young Bhavni and Ciby Bhuvana Chandran as Sri appealed.

It was one of the films where the villain’s physique would have worked wonders. Bhavani gets introduced with a bulging biceps but later appears as someone who has absolutely no idea how to exercise his muscles. His punches were a near joke which just escaped because of Vijay Sethupathi. If anyone else had delivered those single punch killer moves, they’d have been trolled to death.

The juvenile concept was a great original and wish a lot more could have been shown in that area rather than just being a tool between hero and villain. But it was refreshing to see an alcoholic Vijay without any strong flashback. Wish even Nasser had not told about that in those few words. His flashback stories told by himself were terrific. And I guess this is the best looking Vijay in his entire film career.

There were few Vijay gimmicks like “I’m waiting”, kabbadi fight etc. The idea was well placed but the execution could have been better. Like how “Kannula Thimiru” could have been shot better, kabbadi fight too could have been better choreographed. No matter what, Anirudh scores with his massy background scores. When we were all thinking that the faceoff between hero and villain would happen only in the climax, there is a pre climax scene where JD holds Bhavani with a pen and ridicules his name. That was nicely done, both, naming the villain in this manner as well as ridiculing it.

The culmination of both the characters for one major fight towards the end didn’t really appeal. It looked forced and felt like the only way to end the movie. The few bad boys in the juvenile home giving JD the info of Bhavani too was too farfetched. First of all why would Bhavani want to escape, he wasn’t troubled to the limits by JD yet. So it all was quite un-organic and forced. Even if not a modern day great film, with better treatment it could have been a modern day great Vijay film. But it fails to pack the punch like ‘Kaththi’ did which was a near perfect film in this genre. So may be if I had to rate between ‘Petta’ and ‘Master’ on which properly glorified a mass hero, I would rate ‘Petta’ better. And whoa, I missed watching movies for a year.