Thalaiva - Le leader

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.

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.

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.

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..