MOVIE NAME: BIGIL
DIRECTOR: ATLEE
CAST: VIJAY, NAYANTHARA, KATHIR AND OTHERS
A victim clamouring for help and shouting the name “MICHAEL”in a college protest, a shot of the savior Jesus Christ that follows coupled withclock ticking exactly at 7:30-the opening scene is just enough to make the audience do the Bigil (Whistle).Be it the insertion of Ghilli background score with Vijay pulling off his hoodor Vijay pointing to the half-torn poster of Paiyum Puli such that it eliminates Paayum,all typical of the fanboy making a film of his idol. And the movie would be a real visual treat if viewed just from entertainment perspective!
Michael (Vijay) is a local don operating in Chennai carrying in his shoulders and heart an ambition to enrich the lives of his people around him. One day, while he is on tour with his brother Kathir (Kathir) mishaps happen and Michael is forced to fill up the gap that Kathir had left, as the coach for the Women’s State football team. And yes, Michael does have a flashback which would make him suitable for the same. What happens then forms the crux of the story.
Out of all the scripts that Atlee has written, 'Bigil' stands out to be the best. Although it borrows some shades from “Chak De India”, ‘Bigil’ excels in it’s own wayand that was made possible because of the good script writing skills exhibited by the crew. Thefilm is comprised ofthe commenrcial elements that satisfy the Thalapathy fans and the sentiments that are pertaining to the women.
Though the initial vision of the football ground and the game do not seem satisfactory, as the time goes, we could hear the ‘Ouchs’ and ‘Yaaaays’ from the audience. The emotional blocks have worked out fairly well and the occasional 'Wow-moments' succeeded in gaining the required response from the audience.
The section of romance with Angel (Nayanthara) doesn’t seem appealing and we are left at the mercy of Raayappan (Father Vijay) to save us from it.
Vijay is all energetic and charismatic in all the three potrayals and especially his potrayal as Raayappan really is worth laudable. The girls team is given agood screen space in this male-centered moviethemed on women. Jackie Sheroff and Daniel Balaji obviously seem to have given not enough space to show their full potential. All the other characters act as puppets to fill the frame be it Vivek ( whose jokes do make us smile at places) , Anand Raj or Yogi Babu.
A.R.Rahman makes us tap our feet through his ‘Verithanam’ and ‘Singapenney’ with remarkable visuals from G.K.Vishnu. At certain points, time hung heavy and the need for curtailing the scenes seemed to be essential!
With the exception of a few obviously clichéd twists and the never ending first half, the film serves as a good family watch for this weekend. And it is an absolute treat for all Vijay fans!
