'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay is back to his forte, that is mass masala commercial cinema. Nothing surprising about that but the surprise factor here is the director of the film M.Raja who had only done films with his brother 'Jeyam' Ravi as the lead hero in Tamizh so far. There was no hiding that this film is a pucca commercial movie from all sides involved in the film and nothing novel was expected nor promised by the film crew. The only additional attraction is that, this is Vijay's highest budgeted film. Vijay who's last was the decent off-track 'Kaavalan' is back to what he does best. He has a wonderful screen presence and a bundle of energy and joy. He excels in all departments with laid-back dialogue delivery, cute comical expressions, angst and fire in stunt sequences and flawless dancing skills in the songs. Good to see him experiment with different hairstyles in the "Maayam Seidhaayo" number. All his usual acts, checked. Genelia D' Souza and Hansika Motwani are two dolls used in this film and the former has the meatier role. Not to say Hansika has lesser screen presence, but Genelia's role has more importance to the script and Hansika just being an additional attraction. Genelia as a journalist was decent though her dubbing was out of sync at certain times. She was gorgeous in her simple and sweet wardrobe. Hansika's role as a bubbly village girl was a little bit odd but she has good timing and expressions, thanks to her experience as an child artist. Santhanam was very humorous with the not-so-loud and simple comedy tracks. It was not among his best but it certainly raises laughter, especially with his terrific comedy timing and besides that, some comedy portions were done by Suri and Paandi. Saranya Mohan was cute and homely and she too did what was expected. As usual there are many character artistes in this film as how it was with M.Raja's previous film. MS Bhaskar, Pandiarajan, Manivannan, Sayaji Shinde, 'Parotta' Suri, 'Black' Paandi, 'Kadhal' Thandapaani, Singamuthu, Vyapuri, Raaghav, Abhimanyu Singh, Vincent Asokan, Ilavarasu, 'Crane' Manohar and etc,etc all were part of this film and each of them had a couple of scenes between themselves.
Technically the film has some decent work. VT Vijayan's editing was flawless and he made sure the film had all its "ingredients" checked and at the same time, there was no unnecessary dragging in the film. Priyan's cinematography captured the action sequences well, especially the harbor fight and the climax fight and not to forget the train 'battle' scenes involving a helicopter as well. Stunts were choreographed well and in a simple manner and credits should go to both 'Stunt' Silva and 'Anal' Arasu and Silva's work in the harbor fight sequence was the best. Milan's sets were cool and trendy, especially with the songs. The usage of colorful and intricate sets, elevates the joyous mood of the songs and film. Vijay Anthony is a big asset to the film as his music contribution has helped the film to reach audiences faster. All the songs in the film are good numbers and will remain in the charts for quite some time and his background score too was not bad, either. "Chillax" and "Maayam Seidhayo" had wonderful sets, especially the former one. "Molachu Moonu" stands out as the pick of the lot in the film and will certainly be one of Vijay Anthony's best songs ever. It was well picturized by having all 3 lead characters, in the lush,green and cool Kashmir. "Sonna Puriyadhu" is the grandest song ever shot on Vijay and the director should be appreciated for maintaining a colourful and grand scenario throughout the song with hundreds of dancers and set work. "Rathathin Rathame" was in-tune with the story and delivered the necessary sentiments required for the film. The director and costume designer could have come up with a more novel and original idea for the costumes of the 'super-hero' alter-ego of Vijay. The costume was copied from the popular gaming series "Assassin's Creed".
This film can be labelled as M.Raja's most commercial film ever. The script is meant as a tribute and was developed based on the one-liner of the Telugu film "Azad" which was developed by him and his late-friend Thirupathysamy who directed "Azad". The Telugu film was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan's "Main Azaad Hoon" which in-turn was inspired by an old Hollywood film, "Meet John Doe". M.Raja made sure that all the necessary elements were not left out in order to project Vijay as, not only a mass hero but as a super-hero as well. There was no dull moments in the film and the pace of the movie was kept stable throughout. The placement of the songs were smooth,the comedy portions were not boring, the sentiments were not too cliched and the intended message was delivered appropriately. The train fight sequence was a bit over-the-top considering they have used the services of veteran Hollywood stunts coordinator Tom Delmar. Surprisingly there were no punch dialogues in the film used by the protagonist. Vijay meanwhile reiterates his real life political stand in a certain scene. What makes us a little surprised is that, after a lengthy high-octane action scene, we are usually accustomed to assuming the film is about to end but here M.Raja continues the screenplay and reserves the most sentimental scene for us and builds up a emotion-filled climax for the protagonist who finally, delivers a motivational message for the audiences.Vijay has a another commercial entertainer and a sure shot winner, at-least for his fans and M.Raja has used all the elements required and made available to him, in a very effective manner. There is nothing new story wise as the concept and theme is as old as the hills and Vijay himself had done it in his previous films. What works in this case is that, there were no false promises made and what was delivered, is what was expected of originally, from the director and the lead artist. Ratings: 2.5/5 STARSBY:TAMIL
After the superb performance in Avan Ivan, Vishal is back in a film which belongs to his forte, the action genre. Helming the director's seat is Prabhu Deva which raises the bar and expectations of the film. The teasers and trailers promised some pumping action sequences. It's an important film for Vishal, reputation and financial wise as his last decent hit was Thamirabharani way back in 2007 and since this is his home production. As for Prabhu Deva, his Engeyum Kadhal was a disaster and to be on the safer side, he has chosen to remake a hit Telugu film called Shouryam. As the title suggests, will this film be a cracker ?
Vishal embodies the perfect Tamizh cinema action hero with his dark complexion, tall and well built physic as well as good looks. His radiates the macho look very well and it suits him perfectly, a throwback to his Sandakozhi and Thimiru days. There was no overreaction in any sequences from him. His dialogue delivery has improved a lot and the manner he performs his stunts scenes are ferocious. He's very much fit to be in the action hero category. Sameera Reddy has nothing much to do, as expected in mass masala films. She should be commended for trying comedy and she got her expressions right. Not to forget, she looks very pretty and attractive. Vivek's comedy fails to arise laughter and he only impresses in bits and pieces. It's pathetic to see Sayaji Shinde dishing out similar performances and that too as the same, lame, shouting villain. Wonder what happened to the man who portrayed Bharathiyar in that classic film, Bharathi. Poonam Kaur gets a small role to play, which she did neatly. Oorvashi and Seeman's brief roles, bring a smile to us with their perfect timing. Devi Sri Prasad was impressive in his cameo in the opening song.
Vijay Anthony's score is adequate and mild and the pick of the lot will be the "Ichu Ichu" number, youthfully written by Vaali sir. "Enna Aachu" and "Ippadi Mazhai" numbers can get more popular with repeated airings on television and radio. His background score was not loud. Among the songs the "Enna Aachu" has been captured in the beautiful Ladakh region but the promised sizzling number "Bombay Ponnu" featuring Sophie Chaudary was a damp squib. RD Rajashekar is one of the best in the cinematography field, especially the fight sequences, "Kaakha Kaakha" and "Bheema" being testimonials to it. He has brilliantly captured the fight sequences, especially the one right before the interval and the climax portions with the slow motion effect, well used. His angles and placement of camera elevates the impact of the fight sequences. Anal Arasu, who did a wonderful work in "Rowthiram" continues his work here, though he should have avoided the 'bouncing' effect and some over-the-top moves. His one-to-one combat sequences was well choreographed. Chaitanya Rao's costumes for Sameera was very pretty and apt which accentuates her good looks. V.T Vijayan's editing was clean and neat making the film crisp. RK Nagaraju's sets especially the villain's house was noticeable.
The biggest problem with the film is the outdated, worn-out, boring and lame script. The story is as old as the hills and was seen hundreds of times on screen. Prabhu Deva tries to prep up the excitement level by infusing some "time-limit" sequences in the second half but it actually fails to achieve the intended result. The "Pokkiri" effect can be seen here and there in bits and parts. Though the film doesn't drag and is made crisply, the sequences are out-dated and not fresh at all.
End of the day, Prabhu Deva and Vishal has dished out a film which has decent performances, decent cinematography, decent music, decent action sequences but a bad script and story.
Ratings: 2/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
It's been a very long time since Bharath had a decent hit in his career based on a original script by a director. The last was way back in 2006, that is the critically acclaimed Veyil by Vasanthabalan. He has been dishing out meaningless films and had a decent result with Kanden Kadhalai which was a remake of Jab We Met from Hindi and the recent multi-starrer Vaanam, another remake this time from Vedam, the Telugu film. Looks like the trend of delivering bad movies continues for Bharath as Yuvan Yuvathi didn't entertain the audiences at all, apart from Santhanam's comedy portions.
Bharath, does the usual antics of a cinema hero, by dancing, fighting and romancing the heroine but other than that there's nothing commendable from him. It applies to newcomer Rima Kallingal as well. A pleasant looking dusky girl, she didn't overact in her character and was natural, thanks to the experience of doing few films in Malayalam. Sampath was apt for the role and he scored in expressions and body language though it was a little bit loud. Sathyan made a small cameo and surprised as with a gay character. He's been improving from one film to another. Krishna and Divyadarshini played their parts appropriately and there's a cute cameo scene involving Sakthi and Anuja Iyer. The only character delivering good entertainment was Santhanam and as usual he was on top form, delivering sarcastic dialogues with brilliant timing and expressions, especially in his 'dream song'.
The film delivers average on technical front too. Vasugi Bhaskar and Santhiyasri dressed up the characters appropriately. Super Subbarayan's final stunt scene was normal, Ilaiyaraja's art direction was normal and G.K Prabakaran's editing was normal too. Gopi Jegadeeswaran did a decent job in the cinematography department especially in capturing the scenic locales of Seychelles in the "Oh My Angel" song. Vijay Anthony's delivery was average too with the "24 Mani Neram" song being the pick of the lot but the "Kolaikuthu" song was too loud and unwanted. Writer Ramakrishnan might had a decent story to tell but GNR Kumaravelan's screenplay was shoddy and boring. The proceedings in the film was not properly justified and the climax was abruptly done.
Yuvan Yuvathi was boring and Bharath should stop picking poor scripts, if he wants to survive in the heavily competitive Tamizh film industry.
Ratings: 1.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
