Hi viewers, This week i ve written the review for the eagerly awaited movie of this Year " Vellithirai"
Genre: Comedy
Director: Viji
Cast: Prakashraj, Prithviraj, Gopika, Sarath Babu, Pratap Pothen
Storyline: A greedy middle aged man steals his friend’s script to become a superstar director.
Bottomline: An earnest critique on the state of the art If someone were to put together a film that reviews the state of Tamil cinema, ‘Vellithirai’ would be it. The film, by example, begins with a humble acknowledgement to the source material with the story credited to Roshan Andrews, the director of the Malayalam original ‘Udayananu Tharam.’ Yes, there’s an entire sequence inspired from Steve Martin’s ‘Bowfinger’ but let’s blame that on Roshan too.
Roshan’s story is just the take-off point for an introspective look at Tamil cinema and its trappings: Middle-aged stars who believe they can play youth by knocking off 15 kilos, the need for every star to have a sobriquet first name to claim his arrival, the way stars dictate changes to the script to suit their image, the dependence of filmmakers on the leading man to get a producer and the finances for the film and how compromise is a necessary evil in commercial cinema.
Roles In a Twist
Hence, the content itself, though bordering on stereotypical, is reflective of the state of the art but Viji gives every character a redeeming twist such as the astrologer-consulting producer actually deciding to back a total newcomer because he believes in his merit. Or, the ever-understanding honest associate director turning to driving call-taxis because he can’t deal with living in his wife’s shadows. Or, the actor coming up with a solid explanation on why Stanislavski’s system would not work here in Tamil cinema. When he says “That is his science. This is our culture. We are a loud race by nature. We beat our chests during funerals,” you realise this character is no stereotype. This is what every actor believes before he becomes a star, after which he becomes the stereotype: the all-powerful, egocentric, supreme being vain enough to act in movies where his stature is equal only to God.
Prakashraj is brilliant as Kannaiyan-turned-‘Thalapathy’ Dilipkanth, retaining the humanness of a character that could’ve ended up as pure caricature while Prithviraj ends up as a complementing contrast to Prakashraj’s loudness with his restrained underplaying, a fine example of Stanislavski’s system of behaving the character. Gopika, M.S.Bhaskar, Sarath Babu and Pratap Pothen are examples of smart casting, where on-screen persona does half the job for the role they have to play.
This is a must watch film and it ll loved by persons from all ages.. see u next week with a new movie
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