Wonderful retort, Scale!
Now look at it this way. There have been many films that talk of the hero losing the beloved, to natural/ unnatural reasons. Niram maaraadha pookkal, Punnagai mannan etc. There have been many films where the hero loses his job which puts his life in a tizzy. So, thematically there’s nothing fresh here - the fact that Veyil is getting rave reviews for. India Today Tamil edition hailing this as one of the top 5 movies ever made in Tamil - way too much! In fact there’s a small interview with Vasanthabalan in the same issue, where he hammers the portrayal of loser as the film’s USP again, as planned between him and Shankar. C’mon, thats my grouse - there have been better, truthful films about losers.
If you talk about losers, the best (although flawed, in terms of presentation) was VZ Durai’s Mugavari. That showed the lead guy as a loser till the end, no victories at all, except in love. He did not get his composing assignment even in the end, but had the patience to go after it no matter what.
Again, I’d say Murugesan is not a loser at all. If at all, he’s just an idiot who cannot get his life together after a tragedy, something explored to the hilt by KB in Punnagai Mannan. So, its not about the loser at all, its about the impractical idiot, seriously lacking in common sense and wants to think he’s a loser just ‘cos his dad left him ‘ammanakundi’ when he was 10. This loser thing is a huge sham, imo :-) perpetrated by Shankar/ Vasanthbalan, while the protagonist is merely a incapable nut. Thats very different from being a loser.
Here, Murugesan leads a cushy life doing something he thoroughly enjoys - for 20 long years, and after one tragedy goes around claiming (or the director does that part) that his life is lost? Does that mean his 20 years where he enjoyed life to the hilt in the theater was a complete joke? A lie?
I’m trying very carefully not to attempt to suggest changes in the story and comment only on what has been portrayed. Wishful thinking in showing the hero as a positive guy/ intelligent guy etc are just that - wishful thinking, beyond the purview of a review/ comment. So, when I say he’s a incapable nut, I don’t wish he was anything else. Just that he’s no more a loser than all those losers we’ve seen other Tamil films.
