Ilayathalapathy Vijay 's New Mission with A.L Vijay - Thalaivaa

[BM]

http://www.123telugu.com/reviews/rev...portunity.html

Review : Anna – Wasted Opportunity

Tamil Star Vijay has teamed up with director A.L.Vijay for the film ‘Anna’ .The story of the film is expected to be along the lines of Kamal Haasan’s ‘Nayakudu’. But can the film live up to the promise? Amala Paul is the heroine and Kasi Viswanadham is the producer. Let us see how the movie is.

Story :

Vishwa (Vijay) is an aspiring dancer based in Australia. He runs a mineral water plant and earns well. But his real passion is dance and he works hard to succeed in that area. One day, he comes across Meera (Amala Paul) and falls for her charms. He also manages to impress Meera’s father (Suresh).
Suresh insists upon meeting Vishwa’s father and so they travel to the city of Mumbai. Vijay thinks his father is a simple businessman. But he realises that his dad is a local strongman revered by thousands of poor people. He realises that he is the son of Anna (Sathyaraj).
Vijay’s world is shattered. Fate conspires against him and he loses everything that is dear to him. In these circumstances, will he stand up for the people who are dependent on his family? Will he take up the mantle of Anna? That is what ‘Anna’ is all about.

Plus Points :

Vijay has given a decent performance as Vishwa. Amala Paul has a key role in the film and she looks pretty. Sathyaraj has very good screen presence and he has done justice to the role of Anna. In fact, Sathyaraj’s scenes are easily the best sequences in the film. Veteran actor Suresh has performed well.
The interval twist is good and the film gains momentum here. Santhanam brings much needed comic relief and his one liners work most of the time. He has some nice lines, like “Orey, vere vaadi auto ki nuvvu ayudha pooja cheyali anukovatam thappu ra”.

Minus Points :

The basic story line is similar to Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s ‘Nayakudu’. Except for the interval twist, the story proceeds along expected lines.
The treatment of the hero’s character could have been a lot better. Vijay never really rises from Vishwa to Anna in the film. The aspect of ‘hero elevation’ is sorely missing and the director wasted many chances where this could have easily been achieved. For stories of this kind to work, viewers have to be drawn in emotionally. A.L.Vijay’s narration does not achieve this objective.
Except for Santhanam’s one liners, the entertainment quotient in the film is zero. The film’s run time, which is in excess of 3 hours, is a major minus point. The patience of viewers will get tested at times, especially in the second half.
There are a lot of loopholes in the plot. It is not possible to elaborate on this point anymore, as this would reveal the twists in the story. Songs are a major minus point for the movie. None of them manage to create an impact.

Technical Aspects :

Nirav Shah’s cinematography is decent. Editing is bad. A lot of scenes in the second half could have been trimmed. Background score by G.V.Prakash is not up to the mark. Dialogues are just about ok.
A.L.Vijay is a mismatch for this subject. A director with a good ‘mass pulse’ would have done justice for this movie.

Verdict :

‘Anna’ is a disappointment. In fact, it is a wasted opportunity. With that kind of a story line, the film should have ended up as a solid commercial drama. But all it manages to do is drag on and on. The Box Office prospects for this film look quite bleak in Andhra Pradesh.

123telugu.com Rating – 2.5/5

[Kumaran.P]

VENDHAR MOVIES : ‪#‎ Thalaivaa ‬may release tomoro.

[BM]

http://www.greatandhra.com/viewnews....&cat=1&scat=12

'Anna' (Thalaiva) Review: Tests Patience

Vijay, who received good reviews with 'Thupaki' has come up with Thalaiva in Tamilnadu that has released as 'Anna' in Telugu. The point to be underlined is that the film released in Telugu prior to that of Tamil. Though Vijay is yet to find his grip on Telugu market unlike Vikram and Surya, the makers have expected lot with this release. But the film tests the patience for 3 hours.

Story:

Ram Murty becomes the savior of all poor people in Mumbai. People call him Anna (Satya Raj). He feels that it's dangerous for his son Vishwa (Vijay) to stay in Mumbai with him. Hence he sends him Australia. He runs his own business there and also participates in dance competitions as hobby. He falls in love with Meera (Amala) and comes back to India with her to take permission from father to marry her. Only then Vishwa comes to know what his father has been doing. With various twists and turns, Vishwa becomes Anna.

Performances:

Vijay's performance is just ok. There is no change in get up in big way between the jovial character in first half and serious role in the 2nd. Tamil fans of Vijay may feel his performance great but it will not appeal for Telugu audience.

Amala Paul got an opportunity to perform. She did well. Satya Raj and Abhimanyu Singh are ok. Santhanam as usual delivered his mark of punch dialogues. Ponnambalam, Naresh etc did justice for their characters.

GV Prakash Kumar's music is spineless. Background ground disappointed fully. Songs are dull. The major drawback for this film is music. Cinematography is good but same mood was followed throughout the film. The dark tone is not required for the jovial episodes in Australia. The length of the film marred the entire show.

Tamil director Vijay carved a nice story like his previous film 'Thanadavam'. But he failed in execution. The required intensity in narration was missing. Forced comedy and unnecessary sub plots killed the film. Had this story was given to Telugu directors, they would have made a powerful commercial entertainer with great elevation for hero that brings hysteria for fans.

Highlights:

Interval episode
Santhanam's comedy punches

Draw Backs:

Run Time
Screenplay
Direction
Analysis:
Director failed in all the ways in projecting the protagonist as hero. The love track in first half need not be made so lengthy. He could have given interval 20 minutes before itself. The director couldn’t reach the expectations even with second half by giving real elevation for Anna.

Once hero becomes Anna, the story should run but shouldn’t crawl. The police station scene and the court scene are the unnecessary ones those marred the interest levels of audience. Adding to this, the second heroine track disturbs totally. Santhanam's comedy in second half didn’t gel well with the main plot.

While the audience experiences the pain of lengthy narration, the scene where Vijay controls himself to dance before a song comes as a knockout blow.

There will be many films with 3 hours duration, but Anna is a 3 hour film which gives an experience to audience that they have watched a movie with 3 days duration. Though the openings are good due to no direct releases, the result need not be predicted again.

Bottom Line: Painful
Rating: 2/5

[mareen]

Just saw the movie. Will postvreview later

[Kumaran.P]

VENDHAR MOVIES @ VENDHAR_MOVIES 2m
we are trying for tonite #Thalaivaa show but tomoro confirm..

[Kumaran.P]

@ sekartweets: At last a positive sign but still u missed the grand opening - Happy for the team anyway # Thalaivaa

[Kumaran.P]

SIMoviesUSA: # Thalaivaa premier show BO $39,000 from 31 locs.Good!!. WOM is good and additional shows for wknd are already added.

[svaisn]

A L Vijay ellam oru director - Vijay nambi erukka koodathu...

Thandavame enna oru directornu clearaa solliduchu aprum indha padam vera..... the cause of all (-)ves in the movie is this guy... he doesnt know what direction is... high time he goes back to his basics and start from ASSISTANT DIRECTOR again....... :sigh:

[svaisn]

Vijay.... definitely tried giving his best to this otherwise boring and lull screenplay..... Absolute delight to see him dance in 2 episodes (Manada Mayilada mathiri erunthuchungrathu vera visheyam ) Emotes well during the interval block and the scene before that with Sathyaraj.....

Amala Paul.... She says"I am not fit in this field (police)... towards the climax" aana unmai ennavo "She is not fit for this industry"..... heroines like Anushka would have pulled this role effortlessly and made it a splendid performance... another let down by AL Vijay...

Shantham, as always how many films can be depended on him... this is definitely not healthy.... Herova nambi padam edungappa....
His chemistry with Amala Paul was more refreshing than the lead pair.....

Sathyraj he is definitely going to be a great character artist for the coming years..... AL Vijay doesnt know how to use such strong personalities, non of the scene created impact....!

GVP -- Good Songs.. and Nice BGM (in few places) few song placements could have been better... (He should stop stereotyping poor Saindhavi, she is definitely a versatile singer... stop giving her the same kind of songs... dont want another Bombay Jayashree)

ALVIJAY nee mattum en kaile maatikitte setha da... Oru nalla titleaa WASTE panniteyeee

[Kumaran.P]

Dhananjayan : Happy & relieved all issues resolved for ‪#‎ Thalaivaa‬...looking forward to watch it tomorrow. I am sure Vendhar Films will ensure this