SALIM MOVIE REVIEW

Vijay Antony, is back to the silver screen once again after, his sleeper-hit debut, 'Naan'. Jointly produced by, his wife Fatima Vijay Antony and others, Vijay Antony borrows his previous character's pseudonym as the titular character for this new flick and has introduced another debutante director, N.V Nirmalkumar, a former associate of Bharathi Raja. Can Vijay Antony reproduce the same success of 'Naan' with 'Salim' ?

In 'Naan', Vijay Antony's subdued character complemented his image and he passes muster comfortably. He carries the same performance in 'Salim' and there's literally not much of difference, be it in voice modulation, facial expression, dialogue delivery and etc. It suits him and he looks a little more comfortable, but it will definitely can't last longer than this. Aksha Pardasany has very minimal scope for acting and there's nothing to shout about, regarding her character. The rest of the cast such as R.N.R Manohar, Swaminathan, Aruldass, Azmath Shariff, Jayachandran, Ramanathan, Jyothi and etc are there to fill up the necessities of the script. Its an out-and-out Vijay Antony show !

The film's technical output is just average and passes muster. 'Billa' Jagan takes care of the action choreography and his work complements the stature of Vijay Antony and his character. The second half packs, all the stunt sequences and the hotel room fight scene is the highlight of them all. Kudos to Vijay Antony for pulling them off efficiently. Vinod Raveendran and Anand Raj is in charge of art direction and they have done a decent job, especially with the set properties for the homes of the characters shown in the film. Also, the continuity for the hotel room sequence should be mentioned, for the realistic look. The editing department is taken care by three editors, who are M.V Rajesh Kumar, Veerasenthil and Selva. The editing was okay, but some cuts were just too obtrusive and lacks coherence. The duration of the film needs severe editing, especially with the slow pace of the first half ! Cinematography by M.C Ganesh Chandra looks decent, especially with the lighting and color tone used, which complemented the mood of the scenes, especially for the second half. 

Vijay Antony's musical score was a disappointment. The fizz and groove in 'Naan' is missing here and the songs, are just a hindrance for the screenplay. "Prayer" theme was used as a ringtone sound of the protagonist. "Unnai Kanda" is a melody shot on the lead pair and has a very picturesque location of sea-side and desert. The panoramic camera angles, gave the song a music video feel and the lighting gave the song a very good color. "Avala Nambithaan" is a situational song, with montages of the lead pair and a cameo appearance from Premgi Amaren, in the beginning shots of the song. The base of the song, is lifted from the M.S Viswanathan's 'Ninaithaale Inikkum' classic, "Siva Sambo". "Unnai Kanda" has a reprise version, this time in a sad mood, which serves as a bit song. "Mascara Pottu" is a typical item number, which was well shot by M.C Ganesh Chandra, who gave the song, with above average visuals aided by apt lighting and color tone. "Ulagam Unnai" is a situational song, and comes right before the climax and was shot on Vijay Antony, in a hotel room. The background score resembles 'Naan' background score, wherein Vijay Antony used the same hook-line sounds. It complements the mood of the sequences, but other than that, there's nothing impressive in it.

N.V Nirmalkumar's screenplay has a very simple outlay. First half would be character establishment and second half is where the action takes centre stage. The plan is an easy way to tell a story, but the pace of the screenplay takes severe beating ! The first half is entirely taken to establish the good side of Salim, whereas the second half is all about how Salim meets his breaking point and the retaliation towards the injustice of the society. The second half actually keeps us focused and is more gripping, but the plot has no organic development and everything seems to happen just like that, with no explanation given. The characterization of Salim, which is the utmost important element of the script, is very much unconvincing and it fails to border the reality. The character is very one dimensional in the first half, and as audiences, we too will not root for such a character !  The dialogues too are just very average and it fails to ignite any spark due to average dialogue delivery by Vijay Antony. Quite a few characters appear and disappear for no reasons and the whole film rests on Vijay Antony's shoulders. It looks like the director has taken the basic thread from 'Naan' but has made the titular character be more of like a vigilante, in the second half. The sort of cliffhanger ending suggests us with the possibility of a sequel, but unless someone comes up with a decent script, the idea is of no use !

'Salim' - A less impressive evolutionary sequel to 'Naan' !


Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL