Movie: Vivegam
Direction: Siva
Cast: Ajith Kumar, Vivek Oberoi, Kajal Aggarwal, Akshara Haasan
Music: Anirudh Ravichander
Cinematographer: Vetri
Editor: Ruben
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Family
Rating: ∗∗
What is it about: It’s about a Counter Terrorist Squad Agent who resurfaces from dead, and when he does what chaos it creates forms the crux of the story directed by Siva.
Why it’s disappointing: Two years in the making and promotions well planned it was set to rock the box office. The hype around Vivegam was enormous so was the budget. But one thing our Kollywood heroes always dive in is for making films exclusively for fans. In that process they forget about the other aspects. Especially the A list actors, who sometimes are quite self-obsessed. Director Siva has an approach which never changes. Even though this film was shot mostly abroad he still manages to follow his usual format. The screenplay was very weak and a story makes even the word cliché an understatement. There were so many instances in the film which totally forgets where it’s headed and gets busy establishing Ajith. Wonder how many of that is required for an actor of his experience and calibre.
It was marketed stating that Ajith Kumar had put in a lot of effort in this film. He did most definitely in getting fit and looking good. But in spite of all that effort he still couldn’t flex and fight in the film, it was conveniently choreographed and the rest was taken care by the cinematographer and the editor. One genuine sequence was the bike ride, which again was to please the fans.
The sentiment factors were forcefully fed to the audience and that to with a lot who are die-hard fans, who couldn’t help but laugh it out. The protagonist always has those few seconds to churn out punch dialogues regardless of the crisis to averse.
Kajal Agarwal was just a requisite in a big budget Tamil feature film. Akshara Haasan was chosen to fit the foreigner bill. Vivek Oberoi is that Bollywood accessory to give an expensive outfit to the Kollywood flick. I really forgot about Karunakaran, because the director himself did as he disappears from the film in to thin air.
Have to thank those junior artists who in fact did a great job as they were the ones who were active in all action sequences. One thing our filmmakers forget is to keep it authentic. Ajith plays a special agent, who can be agile but not become superhero. Over the top is taken to a different level and no one can make the secret agents look so cool like we do.
There was a clutter of references from various Hollywood brothers, which was again another disappointment as that was mixed with Indian sentiments clamouring the entertainment factor.
It seemed like, Anirudh wasn’t that interested in scoring this album, it was quite an average one, none of the songs do actually register and the background score was a deliberate rip off from “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Man what went wrong with you this time.
What to watch out for: A film becomes an entertainer when all the factors come together in sync. But in Vivegam, only the technical aspects were good. Cinematography by Vetri was amazing and so were the sharp cuts by Ruben. Sound was mixed well at a decent decibel level. Other than these, you can’t find anything good in the film.
Verdict: Director Siva needs to get out of the comfort zone and make some good entertainers rather making an expensive blunder. If at all the budget was used in the right way, and a better thought process in scripting the film, Vivegam would’ve been a blockbuster. Unfortunately give this one a miss.
