KATHTHI - Ilayathalapathy VIJAY | ARM | SAMANTHA|ANIRUDH

[ajaybaskar]

I watched the movie in a remote theatre in Kanyakumari district which is hardly 2 kms far from Kerala border. So the theatre was filled with malayalee crowd and was filled with chants praising Vijay and pulling down, surprisingly not his arch rival, but Suriya. And his latest outing only helped matters.

The film is a well conceived brainchild of ARM. He has made the best possible mixture of commercial cinema and creating social awareness. He has done that in the past with Ramana but has gone a step further with Kaththi. I had my fears when I saw the trailer. I was not sure if today's audience will lap up such a subject. But seeing the reaction of the crowd yesterday I am left with no such doubts. The mass suicide scene made the whole hall go silent for a minute or two and the noise level only reached it high levels when the goon lays his hand on Kathiresan's shoulders in the pre interval sequence. Many kudos to ARM for making a meaningful film with a star who is often projected as an entertainer.

Vijay, as Kaththi and Jeeva, has shown good variations among the two roles with his body language and voice modulations. Wish this was his first film in a dual role. More than all his dance moves and action, which he is always known and praised for, his acting skills and dialogue delivery hits a new high with this film. Press meet scene, that angst after he realizes the truth behind the thumb prints, the subtle reaction that he and NNM share in the climax are the ones to watch out for.

Samantha gets another forgettable role. But like she tweeted she has finally managed to get a hit in Tamil and I guess that's all she wanted.

NNM and Satheesh play their role to perfection and the latter has emoted well too. Credit to ARM here for choosing an young artist in Satheesh to pair with Vijay. The combo looks fresh.

Anirudh has given Vijay fans a theme which will stay for a while and the bgm during action sequences are terrific. Bgm for last few Vijay movies were really good and this one is no exception.

Personally, I liked the film more than Thuppakki. Ironically, we sold one of our fields only on Monday because we don't get the labour these days and it is very tough to maintain and manage paddy fields. Watching the film I could manage only a wry smile.

P.S: The theatre I watched is in TN border but still the Lyca logo was shown. It drew the biggest applause after ITV and ARM's names. Lyca couldn't have asked for more.