Thalaivaa

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!!

This review was written by my friend a 'neutral fan' from u.a.e DEAR TAMIL CINEMA FANS, well THALAIVAA is an entertaining and commercial film. First we have a look to the cast and crew. CAST Vijay: As usual stunning performance and mind blowing dance movements. His dialog delivery, hum-our sense, expressions and body language is-so classy and stunning. Even he has done his path in the film very well. He is now on the pathway to mega success and another STUNNING HIT from VJ which follows the success of KAAVALAN,VELAYUTHAM,NANBAN AND THUPAKKI. Amala Paul – well another leading heroin. She has done her path excellent in the film as the directors guidance. Well her character has a good scope but the role doesn't gave a chance to Amala Paul to give deep performance. The chemistry has worked well with VJ . Santhanam – Santhanam is a compulsory brand in most of the film. His jokes worked out well in the film. He didn't failed of giving on perfect timing jokes. His performance was a great support to bring the film into the entertaining structure. Vijay to Santhanam combo has worked out well. Sathyaraj - Puratchi Thamizhan Sathyaraj has slowly but surely carved a niche for himself as a character actor, after having donned numerous successful roles as a villain and a lead hero. Some of the prominent character roles that he has done in the recent past include the ones in Nanban and the Telugu movie Mirchi. He also had done a main role in Chennai express. Well his role in Thalaivaa is really classy and has unique style on it. Once again the wave length between Vijay and Sathyaraj has exposed and functioned well after the mega success Nanban. THE REST OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM IS SO PROMISING AND DONE THEIR PART AS STRUCTURED BY THE DIRECTOR. CREW CAMERA – Nirav shah.. really a artistic cinematographer. You may know his excellent works in many films he did before such as MADRASAPATTINAM, VAANAM, ENGEYUM KADHAL, THAANDAVAM,DEIVA THIRUMAGAL, AND MORE. This film his camera magic has bring the audience a wonderful visuals and the tone of the suites the story and convey it through his visual to the audience. Editor – ANTHONY…Everyone know him for his excellence in editing and one of the leading and top editor in the Indian cinema industry. So no review on editing because he has done a great job. Music – GV.PRAKASH…HIS magic in music worked will with the audience. The music is so catchy and the background music for the film rocks. Gv you had done a good job and he didn't disappoint the audience in the music segment. Even the music helped the screenplay to move on to the next level. He also done a guest appearance in a song titled 'VANGANNA VANNAKAMANA'. DIRECTOR – Vijay is well known for his excellent films like Kireedam, Madrasapattinam, Deivathirumagaland Thaandavam. All the film is a great film and made a huge success in the box office and even touched the hearts of the audience. The same magic has done by AL.VIJAY in Thalaivaa by making the audience to immerse in the storyline and enjoy the film.He had done his role perfectly without any dragging in the screenplay or unwanted scenes and dialogs in the film. The film will be full and full entertainment and commercial based. Well it doesn't have any elements such describing the politicians, political orientated storyline or criticizing anyone. It actually conveying the awareness of humanity which humans need to bare in mind and the good and awesome relationship between various religion,caste and culture people India. It also shows how they being united as Indian and their understanding on each other.

Rating:4.5/5.

According to Irresistible force paradox "What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?" .This is best suited to flicks in which a successful director meets a successful actor. In this venture either one of them is bound to go out of their way to satisfy the other. In case of "Thalaiva", the director sacrifices and becomes a savior bigger than the one pictured throughout the film.

For how long will a savior be symbolized by a slow motioned- sun etched silhouette and a trademark dress that becomes the savior's uniform? This is one of the many questions that arose during the movie. There are many such obvious flaws which make the movie less interesting than it should have been.

For a start, the first half runs on two factors, the protagonist's romantic track and his dance competition. But, it doesn't take a genius to figure out how both the tracks are likely to end and this creates a vacuum between the viewers and the viewed. Santhanam tries to fill this vacuum but after a while, the "bro" factor loses its charm and becomes another speed breaker in the already slow screen play.

The second half is nothing but the old coffee brewed under a new outfit but the essence and odor remains the same. The unnecessary addition of characters (Australian gang that competes with Vijay) questions the credibility of the director, this is the first time that the director has used violence to this extent, the only reason being the hero himself.

Sathyaraj plays a calm mannered Don similar to Velu Naickar (Nayagan) but his presence is felt mostly through his chant "Anna" and his snapshots. Amala paul plays two shades of Grey in the two halves and ends up as the better half.

Actor Vijay should pay the same attention to the screenplay that he does to his character. After a rejuvenating success of "Thuppaki" that pulled in repeat audiences, this film is bound to disappoint. The flick lacks pace, never gives the audience a chance to guess, lacks a powerful villain and is scripted for the hero rather than being the other way around.

When Vijay and Santhanam are offered a hot drink, they identify it as Black Coffee but the chef calls it "RASAM" (Curry). The same goes for the movie.

Tamil Cinema desperately needs better scripts and powerful villains.

Until we get another Thuppaki, "I AM WAITING", thuppaki style.

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..

This review was written by my friend a 'neutral fan' from u.a.e DEAR TAMIL CINEMA FANS, well THALAIVAA is an entertaining and commercial film. First we have a look to the cast and crew. CAST Vijay: As usual stunning performance and mind blowing dance movements. His dialog delivery, hum-our sense, expressions and body language is-so classy and stunning. Even he has done his path in the film very well. He is now on the pathway to mega success and another STUNNING HIT from VJ which follows the success of KAAVALAN,VELAYUTHAM,NANBAN AND THUPAKKI. Amala Paul – well another leading heroin. She has done her path excellent in the film as the directors guidance. Well her character has a good scope but the role doesn't gave a chance to Amala Paul to give deep performance. The chemistry has worked well with VJ . Santhanam – Santhanam is a compulsory brand in most of the film. His jokes worked out well in the film. He didn't failed of giving on perfect timing jokes. His performance was a great support to bring the film into the entertaining structure. Vijay to Santhanam combo has worked out well. Sathyaraj - Puratchi Thamizhan Sathyaraj has slowly but surely carved a niche for himself as a character actor, after having donned numerous successful roles as a villain and a lead hero. Some of the prominent character roles that he has done in the recent past include the ones in Nanban and the Telugu movie Mirchi. He also had done a main role in Chennai express. Well his role in Thalaivaa is really classy and has unique style on it. Once again the wave length between Vijay and Sathyaraj has exposed and functioned well after the mega success Nanban. THE REST OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM IS SO PROMISING AND DONE THEIR PART AS STRUCTURED BY THE DIRECTOR. CREW CAMERA – Nirav shah.. really a artistic cinematographer. You may know his excellent works in many films he did before such as MADRASAPATTINAM, VAANAM, ENGEYUM KADHAL, THAANDAVAM,DEIVA THIRUMAGAL, AND MORE. This film his camera magic has bring the audience a wonderful visuals and the tone of the suites the story and convey it through his visual to the audience. Editor – ANTHONY…Everyone know him for his excellence in editing and one of the leading and top editor in the Indian cinema industry. So no review on editing because he has done a great job. Music – GV.PRAKASH…HIS magic in music worked will with the audience. The music is so catchy and the background music for the film rocks. Gv you had done a good job and he didn't disappoint the audience in the music segment. Even the music helped the screenplay to move on to the next level. He also done a guest appearance in a song titled 'VANGANNA VANNAKAMANA'. DIRECTOR – Vijay is well known for his excellent films like Kireedam, Madrasapattinam, Deivathirumagaland Thaandavam. All the film is a great film and made a huge success in the box office and even touched the hearts of the audience. The same magic has done by AL.VIJAY in Thalaivaa by making the audience to immerse in the storyline and enjoy the film.He had done his role perfectly without any dragging in the screenplay or unwanted scenes and dialogs in the film. The film will be full and full entertainment and commercial based. Well it doesn't have any elements such describing the politicians, political orientated storyline or criticizing anyone. It actually conveying the awareness of humanity which humans need to bare in mind and the good and awesome relationship between various religion,caste and culture people India. It also shows how they being united as Indian and their understanding on each other.

Rating:4.5/5.