VISITOR COLUMN

Director A.L. Vijay who's credits include emotion-invoking films such as Madrasapattinam and Deiva Thirumagal, has collaborated with 'Illayathalapathy' Vijay to dish us a well-packaged commercial-action entertainer by the name of Thalaivaa. Being the maiden collaboration of Vijay and Vijay, the expectations were sky-high and eventually it did not disappoint the viewers.

 

Thalaivaa is about Vishwa (Vijay) who is a dance enthusiast, travels to Mumbai from Sydney to meet his father. Little does he know about the background of his father, Ramadurai (Sathyaraj) who he thinks is running a legitimate business in Mumbai. In Mumbai, he finds out that his father is the saviour of the local residents. At the same time, the police and a gangster with political links,Bhima are after Ramadurai with the latter seeking revenge for his father's death. Vishwa then gets pulled into the turf war after his father is killed and how he settles the scores  forms the rest of the story.
 

 

Vijay does a good job in Thalaivaa. Pre and post intermission, we get to see two different characters of Vijay.The former is a happy-go-lucky youth in Sydney and the latter, a Godfather-esque persona fighting for the displaced residents. Sathyaraj excels in his character as Ramadurai, which is similar to Velu Naicker. Amala Paul appears almost throughout the first half but gets limited appearence throughout the second. Santhanam is ever-present in

the first half, invoking laughter everytime he appears but gets a limited appearance like Amala in the second. The rest of the cast consisting of Abhimanyu Singh, Ponvannan, Manobala, Rajesh Pillai and Subbu Panchu did a neat job according to the character requirements.
 

 

All of A.L. Vijay's films have very high technical standards. Nirav Shah has done a magnificent job with his lens,capturing both the Sydney and Mumbai scenes with sheer brilliance.There is a classy feel in every frame and the cinematography is definitely one of the strong points of Thalaivaa. Anthony's editing is flawless as the pace and momentum of the film is kept to desired levels. The action scenes are well-choreographed by Silva with the fight sequences being believable.G.V. Prakash has given a top-class soundtrack for this film and the songs are brilliantly picturised. The background score is apt for the film, albeit being a bit too loud at certain parts.
 

 

Despite having a Nayagan flavour, Thalaivaa does satisfy both Vijay fans and neutrals. A well-scripted commercial entertainer by A.L. Vijay and team which definitely will not disappoint the viewers. Not-to-be missed.
 

 

Rating: 3.5/5