Vivegam Tamil Movie

Feature Film | 2017 | U
Critics:
Audience:
Vivegam is the run-of-the-mill Ajith's mass masala movie that is strictly targeted at his fans with a rehashed and soggy content!
Aug 25, 2017 By Baranidharan Sivasankaran



Apart from the hype, 'Vivegam' is rife with trivia. 2017 marks the silver jubilee for Ajith in Kollywood and Vivegam's release augured well with it. It's Ajith's third collaboration with director Siva and his maiden collaboration with Kajal Aggarwal (well, the last one might not be as significant as the previous ones, but trivia it is).


Director Siva started off his collaboration with Ajith in 'Veeram', where the story was based out of a small town, then with 'Vethaalam' he moved him to the metros and now with 'Vivegam' he has gone international. Seems like a natural progression for both the actor and the director and goes to show the rapport that they enjoy.


Well, if only this natural progression had been with respect to developing the content for the movie it would have garnered a lot of praise. The plot is a generic mass masala that pitches the hero as an international anti-terror squad top cop who is tasked at foiling international conspiracies. Ajith, however, has a more realistic personal life, with an "ideal" loving wife (she was depicted obnoxiously sweet as if translocated from a futuristic utopian cosmos) and his famous salt and pepper style that certainly adds a grace for his 40s.


Ajith, the actor has been long gone into hibernation. Though he cannot be labelled as a great actor, for the experience that he has garnered with the sort of films that he has done so far, he certainly isn't the average one either. But, of late he has been dominating the screen more with his charisma than with his acting skills. But was there a scope for him to "act" per se with the sort of films that gets tailored for him? Hell no!! So I'm still in search of Ajith, the actor instead of a robot that is tasked to walk the talk and spitting out punch dialogues in the form of broken down expletives - "SEE-MY-RAGE" and "NEVER-EVER-GIVE UP".


Kajal Aggarwal - though she was largely saved from that typical bubbly role, she should be the most contrasting character written in recent times. As a doting wife, she sugar coats her dialogues to the hilt and during the climax turns into a modern day "Shakthi" who sings vigorously to motivate her husband while he kicks the hell out of the villain (Vivek Oberoi).


Mr Oberoi as the friend turned foe is another cliched character written for the "foreign" based villain's role. He carries himself well, no complaints. But that's the limit that he can stretch himself. Can't really blame him for a soggy content. Bad luck "nanbaa"!


Akshara Haasan's character seemed interesting but was loose-ended. Her plastic surgery remained as a myth in the screenplay like so many other weird things. She plays a hacker. She hacks each and everything as if she holds a magic wand. Karunakaran as 'Apps' was like an oasis in the desert. His comedy track should have been given a much larger canvas.


Technicalities were good. Cinematography, editing and CGI should be lauded for the meticulous work. Serene locations of Serbia were a treat to watch. But jittery camera movements even for normal scenes and rapid cuts made it a tedious watch at times. Music and BGM by Anirudh were the biggest weaknesses for the movie!


Though I went into the movie with a bullet proof - that it's an Ajith "mass" movie which hardly cares for logic - I couldn't help but putting a bullet to my head when the Caucasians were speaking fluent Tamil (yes there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie, but still)!


As long as the fanboys could stoke the flame of stardom, the stars would be warming their benches without moving forward. At least a good bunch are happy, and that includes the makers of such films. That today, seems to seal the deal!


Strictly for Ajith fans and mass movie lovers!!


Baranidharan Sivasankaran

   

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