Vivegam

There are directors who love to add excessive slow-motion to scenes. And there's Siva. He adds 'fast-motion' to his set-pieces. We don't get to see what's really happening, because the camera moves at lightning speed and so does the hero (all his movies have been about hero- worship with an overdose of family sentiment - this shtick has reached its tiresome saturation. It's 2017, not the 80s anymore!). The break- neck editing style doesn't accentuate the viewing experience either. Even if (some of the) set-pieces in 'Vivegam' are clap-worthy in terms of ideas, this jump-cut method kills the execution almost completely. Except for the hero who owns every frame he's in, we don't even know who's getting beat-up or killed.

Remember what Dicaprio had to go through in 'The Revenant' (the struggle in the cold, wilderness while recovering from injuries)? Well, Siva summarizes all that toil (and more, like doing inverted crunches) in a song where Anirudh screams 'Thalai Viduthalai'. Vivek Oberoi who plays the major antagonist and secret-society agent (I'm not kidding) Aryan, although welcomed initially as a neat addition to the ensemble, persistently keeps heaping praises on his arch- nemesis (who he addresses throughout the movie as 'Nanbaa') Ajay "AK" Kumar (played by none other than Ajith Kumar) a renowned covert (contrasting choice of words, but that's exactly what he is - he makes stealthy moves but he blows places up and shoots everyone he doesn't like) operations specialist, who's betrayed by his own team.

Aren't even the most generic hero-villain sagas more entertaining when the villain is always two steps ahead of the hero? Here, it's the other way round. AK has a solution for everything, and I mean everything. Before an idea even cooks up in Aryan's head, AK's already executing it. "That's AK for you!" - Aryan himself says this like ten times. As if we didn't know. Meh.

Yes, everyone including white Europeans speak Tamil (either via double-layering or directly) which is fine considering we can at least fixate our eyes on the proceedings and not the subtitles. But the accents make the delivery sound unintentionally funny on most occasions. The foreign actors do a very generic job and their dubbing / lip-sync is terrible. Worst, Siva is trying to follow the 'Bond' template but one that's strictly grounded to suit Tamil cinema sensibilities. So the hero doubles as a family man, the best husband around, who at times even fries onions at his wife's (Yazhini, played by Kajal Aggarwal) South Indian restaurant (based in central Europe mind you, yet replete with saree-clad attenders and 'Rajavin Parvai' singing executive chefs) when he isn't frying someone's head on his job.

Technical mumbo-jumbo is spat out from almost every character in the movie - each character in AK's team is given a one-shot intro scene (with an animated pop-up that details their work stats - Gosh, the funniest stuff you'll read. For eg. Skill #3 of the 'Head of Interrogation' - INTERROGATION!). The spelling errors are glaring - STRATERGIST for 'Strategist' (Really?); Mission Coun? Where's the T? How can you trust the instincts of a movie that can't even get its spellings right?

'Vivegam' also has the worst hero-introduction scene in recent times. Subpar visual effects try to convey the fact that our hero, who took his own sweet-time to mumble a few lines in Tamil followed by "Never, ever give up!" to a bunch of military grade officers, had just jumped off a lofty dam - shooting and adjusting his watch on his way down and swimming away to safety. Kajal's character is added just to elevate the character played by Ajith. We have scenes where she keeps reinstating how she is the luckiest wife in the world to have a husband like him, and the quintessential 'passing the inspiration' scene where she goads her husband to kill everyone who betrayed him. Heck, our man bothers to mouth exhausting monologues to the antagonist over the phone even when his wife is struggling in labor. Towards the end, even Aryan seems to have given up - he tells AK exactly what he plans to do and how he's gonna go about it (makes things easy, right?).

Bits and pieces of 'Surviva' are used effectively as BGM, while the rest sound too noisy. The climax set-piece, set in a cave, comes exquisitely wrapped with the "Holy sh*t!" moment. See it to believe it.

Verdict: Alt+Ctrl+Delete!

This is the only film in my entire life, I walked out of the cinema before the Interval. Don't they even watch the film by themselves, before the release? Waste of Ajith's talent and every viewers time. Well done Akshara, only consolation. Scripts are very much dramatic. I don't usually write reviews. I am so fuming with anger, hence I decide to give a piece of my mind. Also heard that it is a box office hit...., you can't be serious.

A movie that does not live up to the expectation and hype.A big budget action gimmick that caters for hardcore ajith kumar fans and action film geeks.The movie has a weak plot with decent interval block followed by a weaker climax.The movie deliver nothing but disappointment,Logical flaws and clichés considering the story line.Good visuals, Anirudhs racy background score and lead actors screen presence makes the general audience sit through the film.If you are a fan of hardcore logic less action sequence may be the film will satisfy you.Yet another below average movie from Siva-Ajith combo.

This is another typical one man taking on hundreds of goons kind of movie. Do not waste your time and money on this piece of waste. Kajal is just a side character with no real importance at all and is just a filler. expected much after the success of Vedalam, but this is a plain mockery ! watch at your own risk

Vivegam (2017): When you're in a mass-hero film, two important aspects are prerequisite. One: Whether it has a panoply of mass scenes to make your theatre experience... deafening. And two, whether it caters to the star's fans.If the movie is a typical commercial film,we may allow that but when the movie is hyped as a spy thriller with grandeur scale and costly production values,we seriously expect a decent experience.Did Vivegam achieve it? Plot: Ajay Kumar (AK) is an agent working for a counter terrorism agency. The agency is in Serbia. He is wanted by 80 countries and many agencies as he is suspected to have gone rogue, misusing his power.His former friends in the agency headed by Aryan (Vivek Oberoi) are now hunting for him. In turn, Ajith Kumar is after people who betrayed him when he was on a mission to track Natasha (Akshara).How AK finds his betrayers and also saves his wife Yazhini (Kajal) is the rest of the story.

My Review: Five minutes into the movie,the opening scene itself clarifies that the so-hyped spy film is just another fan-mela film with unnecessary build-up shots and loud music.

Consider Ajith's introduction scene. An army officer locks a weapons deal with a terrorist organisation. When he's cautioned about the Counter Terrorist Squad, the general says, "Even the wind needs my permission to enter into my territory." Ideally, you would expect Ajith Kumar to show up. But the wind gently ruffles Ajith's salt-and-pepper hair.There are lot of fan moments in the film and scene after scene makes this movie look like a Fan-Made trailer sorta thing.

Director Siva and Ajith, in their third consecutive collaboration, go all out to present a film on an international scale and going by the standards they've set, it's truly remarkable. The attempt is ambitious and the team's effort is commendable, but what's the point of all this hard work when it is not backed by an engaging story. Despite going international, in terms of scale and vision, Siva's filmmaking style is still loud and over-the-top mostly. It defeats the whole purpose of giving the story an international touch.

Except for ridiculous opening scene,rest of the action scenes are handled good but have lot of illogical factors.The pre-interval portion, especially the stretch that leads to Akshara Haasan's introduction, is easily the film's best sequence. It builds the tension effectively and is followed by a breathtaking chase sequence on the streets of Serbia.

Ajith in the role of an agent is in top form. He has done some high-octane action sequences terrifically. Indeed it is his show all the way.Ajith's physical transformation deserves special praise, and he has worked really hard, despite shooting in extreme climatic conditions. He carries the film on his shoulders and turns in a never seen before kind of performance.

Music is bad and Cinematographer must have undergone severe pain following the directors messy vision.

So,Vivegam may look grand because of foreign locations and action scenes but it is just a typical mass-masala film.Watch it only for Ajith and action scenes.

My Rating 5.5/10