Pokkiri – The Pongal Gift of Vijay

The Prelude

My penance has ended today. That too, in the best possible way. The last film of any hero I had watched on any screen (silver screen/small screen) was Aadhi, which was a year ago. (I watched Imsai Arasan few months back, but would consider it a comedian’s film onlyJ) And Pokkiri was the best and fruitful way to end my year long penance.

The History

A disappointing film on his back... Huge expectations of one year from fans… Heavy responsibility to silence the critics… And the new found responsibility of the Next superstar title conferred on him. Vijay hits a huge sixer crossing all boundaries with Pokkiri, handling all the above said issues with ease.

It might not be the best film in Tamil Cinema, it might not be the best film of this year (with Sivaji and Dasavatharam following soon), it might not be as excellent as Ghilli, but it is excellent and brilliant film in its own right. It is sure to leave a mark in the history of Vijay’s film career.

Comparisons with previous Vijay films and the Telugu original are inevitable, but enjoying Pokkiri as Pokkiri with an open mind will give you tremendous pleasure of watching it. I just did that and for this sake, I haven’t even watched the Telugu original till date.

The Credits

The story and screenplay are same as Telugu I suppose, nothing much to write about it. Its one of the best action-packed entertainers ever witnessed by Tamil Cinema. Slick and crisp presentation, racy script and excellent performances take the film to great heights. Be it a faithful remake or a carbon copy, it takes great guts to make an engaging movie with a story and suspense that is known to half of film audience.

It’s all about how a police officer disguised as a rowdy uproots the gangster groups and curbs the evil activities they do.

The Thumbs Up!!!

ü PrabhuDeva – He has proved that he is a great director too. His touch is evident in many scenes, especially the romantic ones (Lift scene in particular).

ü Asin – She makes her presence deeply felt throughout the movie and her role has an important share in the screenplay. She is not yet another dumb heroine.

ü Supporting Cast –Napolean, Nasser, Prakashraj, Sriman... Each and everyone did their roles in the best way.

ü Cinematography by Nirav shah – Best in a Vijay film till date

ü Editing by Kola Baskar – An important factor in keeping the audience engaged

ü Music by Manisharma – Great songs as everyone knows and a decent background score

ü Comedy – By Vijay, great timing. And Vadivelu in parts, though not 100%

ü Art direction – In Maambazham song and in many stunt scenes.

The Songs

These were the best moments of the film. The picturisation, choreography, sets were all very appeasing. The intro song was stunning, Vasantha Mullai was fun, Dole Dole was full of style, Nee Mutham Ondru was mellifluous, En Chella Peru was sexy and Maambazham was brilliant.

Each song had a different flavor. Special mentions to the historic getup and concept of Vasantha Mullai, Prabhudeva-Vijay dance piece in Aadungada, Costumes in Thamizh song, choreography and editing in Dole Dole and the marvelous sets in Maambazham.

The Pokkiri

If you were wondering where is Vijay in the films plus points, well, he is not just the plus point of the film. He is the life of the film. Without Vijay, Pokkiri would have been yet another crap movie. He lives throughout the film, and stands out in acting, dance, emotions, dialogue delivery, action and everything.

And each of these was different from what he did in the string of action movies till date. The last scenes in Police get-up are really stupendous, to say the least. At least for me, after feeling sick of watching unsized/shapeless heroes in that costume in the name of fitting the character and doing homework. It’s a fresh feeling to watch a tummy-less, fit and handsome IPS officer :-D

The only minor downside of Vijay in this film, I would say, is that he has done the different style of dialogue delivery too very consciously in a few scenes - like in the train scene where Asin gives him Upma :) That could have been done better. Otherwise, Vijay rules the entire film.

The on-screen chemistry between Vijay and Asin was really amazing it was nice to watch Vijay getting actually “romantic” after a long time. (Hmm... I guess last time it was Sachien)

The Reactions

I watched the movie in Abirami. It was not an out and out fan’s crowd and a good number of neutral fans did come. But an all youthful audience- almost equal share of men and women. There was loud response for the entry scenes of Vijay, Asin, Vadivelu and Prakashraj and that Police academy training scene.

And for Maambazham song, from start till the end the whole theatre was full of noise and whistles.

The scenes that brought tears of joy in my eyes I should say – Vijay’s intro, the police academy scene and the Vasantha Mullai song.

The Thumbs Down :(

These do not affect the movie’s brilliance in any way, but still they are the downsides:

c Over make-up of Asin in some scenes.

c Comedy in parts (especially the water lorry and nature’s call scenes)

c Few Graphics, especially the glass breakage in climax fight. I wish such unintentional comedies be avoided in future in such serious scenes.

c Unnecessary characters like don’s girlfriend and loud sidekicks (Too many in number) and a what-is-he-doing-in-this-film act of Anandaraj.

c As already said, conscious efforts of Vijay to make dialogue delivery different.

The Conclusion

It is a landmark movie In Vijay’s career in terms of performance and getting close to the “different” thingie that the film audience expects from him. Hope he maintains the same spirit and tempo in all his movies in future and writes pages of history in his name in Tamil Cine World. Vijay fans could not get a better gift for this Pongal… It’s Pokkiri Pongal all the way!!!

By

Srinivasan

Vijay fan for a life time