This was my first Ajith movie in the theatre. And boy, what an experience! I had only heard about the crazy fandom that exists in the Tamil and Telugu industries, but today I got to witness it. And my Tamil friend tells me that this is just a sample. “Come to Tamil Nadu and you’ll see,” she had said (We watched it in Bangalore). The cheers, claps, whistles, gosh!
(This is what I was greeted by in the theatre)
But despite all this gung-ho, Vivegam is, sadly, not such a great film. Of course, if you’re an Ajith fan, and a hardcore action lover, you will love it. But for others like me, it’s just an average, one-time watch that is all about the leading man – Ajith Kumar, fondly known as Thala Ajith.
AK aka Ajay Kumar, was once the head of a counter-terrorism squad, with a trusted group of friends and a lovely wife, Yazhini (Kajal Aggaral). However, now he’s a wanted criminal, with intelligence agents from 80 countries on his trail. Who is AK? Is he innocent? What is his story? These are the questions this film tries to answer.
Vivegam is a very stylish film, the kind you see in Bond films. There is a lot of technology at use.You get innovative hacking methods, a hologram, pacemaker tracking and so on. Lots of action sequences too. However, remove all this polish and what you get is your average one-man-against-the-world tale. ‘No one goes for these films looking for a plot,’ you might say. The theatre I was in seemed to definitely enjoy the movie, and I admit that even I got swept away by their infectious excitement. But even as I was screaming and clapping along with the crowd, I couldn’t help but think about how, apart from being a star vehicle, the film really has nothing much to offer.
One thing I learnt from Vivegam is that director Siva is a big Ajith fan. Throughout the film, AK is kept on a pedestal. There is not a scene which goes by without one character praising him. Heck, even the villain – Aryan (Vivek Oberoi) keeps going on and on about AK’s awesomeness. AK’s so perfect that it starts getting on your nerves after a while. He can kill a bunch of people single-handed just as easily as he helps his wife in her restaurant. Never, for a moment, do we feel he’s in any real danger. Hence, we don’t really get sucked in to his story. Yes, I know this is a ‘mass’ movie. But look at, say, Theri. Or Kabali. Or even another Ajith film – Yennai Arindhal. Not that they are perfect. But we get moments of vulnerability. We care about the hero and his family. Here, not so much.
What makes this lack of emotional connect so disappointing is that there was a lot of scope for that here, with Kajal’s character. They have a sweet relationship, a bit too sweet actually, but I could buy it, being a closet romantic myself. In fact, their relationship is the only thing I actually liked in the film. The lengthy and fast-paced action sequences allow very little time to flesh out their love story, but even what we get, works to an extent. I liked how their Morse code communication found its way as a plot device in the climax. I loved how Yazhini got to be a part of the action in the latter half. I liked the valakaapu in the forest. But at the same time, I can’t help but wishing there was more depth to these portions.
(I love this song too!)
But despite all this, what makes Vivegam watchable is Ajith’s star power and Anirudh Ravichander’s music (and the enthusiastic audience). It’s not hard to see why Ajith is such a big thing. He fits into his role like a glove. Punch dialogues flow out of him like water. It’s a role that is hardly challenge for having him, having done countless variations of the same thing for years. But he’s still able to make it work.
Of the rest of the cast, only Vivek and Kajal warrant a mention. I have never enjoyed Vivek as a hero, but as a villain, he’s fantastic. I think he really ought to do more of such negative roles. And Kajal keeps getting better by the day. She not only looks gorgeous but emotes well too. She is one of the rare few heroines to get a somewhat substantial role in a Thala film, and she makes the most of it. The rest of the cast consists of a bunch of foreigners speaking (and singing) in such heavily accented Tamil that I wanted to puke. And yeah, Akshara Hassan is decent in a blink-and-miss appearance. And Karunakaram cracks a few witty one-liners.
(It is to Kajal’s credit that I didn’t burst into laughter when I saw where this song came in)
And of course, can’t end this post without talking about the second hero of the movie – Anirudh. I think Anirudh can now officially be dubbed the ‘mass’ music director of Tamil cinema. His music can get the adrenaline rushing even in the drabbest of action sequences. In this movie at least, every punch, every kick, every punch dialogue wouldn’t have evoked the response it did if it was not for Anirudh’s music,
(See what I mean?)
So finally, I think Vivegam, for me, was more about the exhilaration of watching an Ajith movie in the big screen right after its release than about the movie itself. And on that ground, Vivegam didn’t disappoint. But looking at it purely as a movie, there isn’t much here.
Tales'n'Tunes 