Thalaivaa

Was disappointed seeing this movie after getting a lot of positive responses. Nirav's work was a visual treat, I must say. The comedy is good too. Every film lover is aware of Mario Puzo's Godfather and every Indian must be aware of Mani Ratnam's Nayagan and Thevar Magan. Not another inspiration of these movies. Still I don't find the logic of super-heroism in almost every Indian movie's protagonist. Vijay's character in this movie is no exception to this (like how a dancer can suddenly fight and tear down a whole rival gang and become a leader with no fight history). Was laughing when Vijay's character was called "Neenga", "Vaanga", "poonga" by people much older to him. The movie may be good or even better, if you're a Vijay's fan or not a regular viewer of classy movies.

A.L.vijay started the narration with stating many great leaders of the world. And in the next 10 minutes,our brain knows the total script of the movie. Next,screenplay is the only area of concern for A.L.vijay. He handles with care in the first half but will be losing his plot in the later half. Vijay-Santhanam combo worked again with a quality leg shake makes the first half worth. Excellent cinematography! A.L.vijay confusion starts here. Slow screenplay make us to feel bore except some instant relief. The difficulty in handling the script(DON) like this is criticism will be higher unless it is perfect. G.V.Prakash work can be half-praised. Editing should be justified since it is a lengthy movie. A good one for vijay since he shows some maturity in acting. Overall, it is an old movie with some new ingredients.

Watched the first show of Thalaivaa. From the trailer itself, it was clear that the movie was going to follow the much beaten path of "Nayakan", "Devar Magan", "Sarkar" and the Malayalam hit "Naduvazhigal". Rehashing a familiar storyline is not a crime in itself, all you have to make sure is to present it in a convincing and different way. If rehashes and remakes were considered bad, a movie like "Nayagan" or "Sarkar" would have had no takers. AL Vijay has to a large extent, succeeded in giving a convincing movie to Vijay fans and to Tamil moviegoers in general.

The story, as we all can guess, is about a much-scrutinized, la Robinhood don (played brilliantly by Sathyaraj), going with his life keeping his only son in Australia under the pretext that he is a businessman who is too busy. The son (Vijay, who else!) leads a regal life, taking care of water supply business and doubling up as a dancer. He meets the heroine (Amala Paul, in a cute role) one fine day and love blossoms after a while. One day, circumstances force him to travel to Mumbai to see his father and how he gets involved in all the goings-on there forms the rest of the story.

The movie is leisurely paced, which might not find agreement with all sections of Vijay fans. The love story is a drawn out one, but then there is enough spice in it to keep you involved. The interval is called for with a bang, which gives a clue as to what might happen next. What happens in the second half is a complete deviation from the first one, and can be termed "mass" in the fan language. Even then, it's not happening at breakneck speed which many might expect. However, I thought that the pace was right here (there is no point in sacrificing logic for pace), what was needed was some trimming of some irrelevant portions. The movie achieves what it wants to, in the end.

The technical front is impressive, with Nirav Shah leading from the front to capture some great shots of Mumbai in the second half. The screenplay is tight and we have a mass movie which does not let go of logic, to an extent. The villain disappoints, and what we wanted was not a menacing looking one, but someone who was capable of standing up to the hero. The songs were absolutely a blast while the BGM could have been used to better effect in the second half. AL Vijay could have exercised more control over the proceedings in a more gripping manner, but he has done his best, we feel. It's easy to crib about the minute details, which we feel as aberrations.

Performance wise, Vijay shoulders the movie and gives out a mature performance. Both the halves demanded different get-ups and acting styles from the actor, and he obliges in his own, unique style. Here is an actor who has potential which has yet been under utilized. Sathyaraj performs well, being the seasoned veteran he is and Amala Paul gets a good role, rather than being the regular eye candy in usual movies. His character sketch failed Abhimanyu Singh but everyone else did their roles well.

Overall, the movie is an entertainer in the usual mould of masala movies, but after the movie ends, we feel that there was something different and that it was for good. Much, much better than Singam - 2!!

Another movie taken from the books of Coppola's God Father.A story on how happy-go-lucky guy turns into a leader and so on... as simple as it can be.

Casting: Vijay: Very good acting, real treat for fans to watch him on screen.Throughout the movie Vijay has played a calm and clever sort of persona.First half pays a happy go guy with all good things surrounded by him and on the latter half you can see a wonderful performance from vijay (experience speaks).On the whole vijay has given his 100% for the movie and done his part full heartedly.

Santhanam: As always laughter guaranteed. Sathyaraj,Ponvannan,Manobala & Suresh: Done what was asked to do, clean and crisp. Amala paul: Need to understand that "Mynaa" was successful also because of the story and the director (tat's it). G.V.Prakash:'Vaanganna' enjoying, Good BG score.Job well done. Nirav: Well crafted visuals gels with the movie be it Australia or Mumbai.

A.L.Vijay: Movie is good , Very nice characterization for Vijay including the body language.Has taken efforts towards the making of the film.Still failed on making a story that can make people sit right till the end credits keeps rolling.Nowadays the moviegoers have started to study movies and its technical qualities. Though they do not expect new story every time,the story telling trend has to be new. Being only director to direct Ajith,Vikram and Vijay so far, expectations are higher.

Conclusion: Very fresh and clean performance from Vijay Familiar scenes with repetitive dialogues &Predictive climax. High time for AL Vijay to work on scripts with something new on it.

Reaction: If India loses a match even after Sachin's century. A definite one time watch for fans and family audience.

The delay of release had affected the collection of this movie..A well written script , but the screenplay was not much good ..The performance of vijay was better..The second half had felt a bit boring ..Overall , the film fails to engage the audience even though it had a well written script..