Azhagiya Thamizh Magan - The Review

There is always an opinion that all Vijay films look same and he does the same thing in all films. If you have taken his films in the recent past, they all had a happy-go-lucky person with rugged characteristics with romance, sentiments, comedy and action aplenty, not to forget well choreographed songs. But the role of Vijay was just an entertainer who delivers a power packed performance with punch. Of course, he has set the cash registers ringing with such films in the past. But “Azhagiya Thamizh Magan” is not a typical entertainer-Vijay film; it is a film of actor Vijay – and that too for the first time in a double role- with entertainment.

Spoiler alert: The plot or story line follows next. Please avoid this marked section if you have not yet seen the film.

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The film revolves around Guru (Vijay), a character who is good at heart and is in love with Shriya. The first half of the film is about how they fall in love and how they convince their parents for marriage. One gets to see lot of Vijay’s usual elements here including a well choreographed intro song. Then comes the ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) of Vijay by which he visualizes few things happening in future. It troubles him a lot and before he gets over the shock of it, he visualizes himself killing Shriya. This makes him move away from her to Mumbai. There he meets Prasad (Vijay again) whose passions are money and honey (read girls). Guru now chases Prasad to prevent him from killing Shriya. The rest of the film takes us through a roller-coaster ride of thrills and twists that leaves you entertained till the end.

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The USP of ATM is Vijay. With a performance like never before, he takes up the burden of the entire film on his shoulders and delivers it impressively. He pleases you as Guru in the first half and stuns you as Prasad in the second half. As Guru, his comedy timing, dance and action are very good as usual. He is the mass hero that we are used to seeing in his previous films. The intro logo of Vijay has changes in this film and its nice to see “INIYA THALAPATHY-IDHAYA THALAPATHY-ILAYA THALAPATHY”.

But it’s the villain Prasad character in which Vijay stands out in a never seen before performance. With a rocking intro and a clear difference against Guru in body language and voice modulation, Vijay slowly builds up this character taking it to greater heights with a towering performance at the climax. The previous role of Vijay in grey shades was in Priyamudan, but it was just few years after his entry into cinema when he had neither experience nor expertise to perform a negative role like this. Now he has well seasoned as an artist and it clearly shows up in ATM. His dialogue delivery is impressive in places like “Evlavo pannraom idha panna maatoma” “Naanum pokkiri thaan da” etc

Shriya has more-than-enough of a role in a hero oriented film and has footage throughout the film. She looks gorgeous, emotes adequately and dances gracefully. She has performed really well in dance sequences. The Vijay-Shriya pair has a natural chemistry to it and the duo look really cute on screen. Namitha as such had nothing to do except for dancing in skimpy clothes in a glamorous song. The film could really have done without her character. Santhanam has evoked a few laughters in a decent and clean comedy track. All other supporting cast has done adequately, though few good actors are wasted in insignificant roles. Special mentions to Shayaji Shinde and Geetha, who got a good scope to perform in their scenes.

Thumbs Up:

The major advantage of the film is the brilliant music of A.R. Rahman which has been transformed visually into well choreographed songs. All songs are a visual treat and Vijay is brilliant as always in all the songs. Lawrence’s work in the “Ella pugazhum” song is brilliant and Vijay takes the song to greater heights with his dance. “Kelaamal Kaiyile” is a visual treat. “Madhuraiku pogadhadi” and “Valayapatti” are rich and colorful. “Nee Marilyn Monroe” is cool and sexy.

The outstanding one is however “Ponmagal Vandhal” remix which has been very well shot and edited, and comes at the right situation in the film. Another plus is the camera work of Balasubramaniyem, which has given the film the right look and feel. The visual effects are mostly well done, special mention to the double act scenes and the climax fight. Editing by Antony is crisp and brilliant, not to forget his work in Ponmagal song. The rerecording by ARR is also good.

Thumbs down:

Coming to the drawbacks, the film has a few scenes with poor visual effects, especially in the chasing scene before climax, which is very overdone. The screenplay sags in some places, a few scenes that are inspired from Hollywood flicks and there are a few logical loopholes which are obvious.

But before one blames Bharathan for these, he has done one thing which was not tried by any of the directors till now. He has extracted a performance of the career till now from Vijay which by itself is a credit for him. Let anything be the films’ result but it is a milestone role in Vijay’s film career and his first attempt towards answering his critics.

When you come out of the movie, nothing but Vijay fills your mind which atleast was a strange feel for me. I am sure that Vijay has done his job very well to silence his critics and its upto Vijay fans to accept his venture and support him for such different attempts. So one can forget all the other short falls and for a debutant, Bharathan has tried his best to give a clean entertainer suited for all audience.

In short: A great entertainer with Vijay all the way.

Verdict: Very Very Good

Rating: 85/100