ALEX PANDIAN FILM REVIEW

ALEX PANDIAN (2013)

Director: Suraaj
Casts: Karthi, Anushka , Santhanam
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Language: Tamil
Genre: Action

When a commercial film gets recognised and fetches a blockbuster status, it is communal in any film industry to trail along the same steps consecutively. The duo of Santhanam and Karthi is such publicized duo which never fails to garner strong pre talks and make the reservation counter ringing. But does that mean success formula can work even without the basic core of commercialism? With that thought, here is my review.  

Synopsis

‘Alex Pandian’ carrying the yesteryear Rajini’s film title, has no similarities in terms of the story in any way. Alex Pandian starts off with a ‘sky high voltage’ action sequence where Alex Pandian (Karthi) saves Divya ( Anushka) from a mafia gang. They finally manage to escape and the film shifts to another side where Alex moves to his aunt’s house. There starts the cat and mouse rumble between Kaalyan (Santhanam) and Alex who tries to woo his three sisters. On the other end, Alex is being searched every corner by multiple number of mafia gangs. When they all finally meet, the loose ends behind Alex, Divya and the mafia gangs get tied progressively.

Story – Screenplay

First of all, it is quite a concern when the film hits the interval whether Karthi will be able to revive this mishit. Yes, Suraj, the man who gave us decent entertainers such as Thalainagaram, Marudhamalai, Padikathavan, have seriously fumbled with his last two outings. His misfire after Mappilai continues in Alex Pandian, with shockingly the former being much better. Alex Pandian, in the name of commercialism, has given ample scope for so much irrational scenes right from the start.  

The film’s first half banks on Karthi-Santhanam’s duo which works only partially due to a script packed and timed with plenty of double meaning, coarse dialogues. It is quite annoying to see the three sisters going crazy over a random guy who reside in their house which reflects cheap mind-set of the writer.

Alex Pandian also has a big list of antagonists and the highlight is that none of them evoke any sense of menace whatsoever. Instead, all of their characters fall flat due to a thin sheet of screenplay, full of miserable holes and exaggerated acts which will seriously test the patience of the audience. Even if the makers wanted to cater this film in Andhra, with the current Indian Cinema setting an internationally feasible quality,  it is a big question mark for this film to even pass among the moderate set of audiences in India.

In overall, even though Suraj have attempted to give the audiences a Pongal treat, with over the top action sequences, generic screenplay and cheap gimmicks, Alex Pandian ends up as nothing but an unintentional comedy.

Casting & Performance

Karthi who needed an urgent hit to revive his career back as a bankable star, falls for the temptations of commercial cinema once again and this time falls hard. Even though he displays perfect comic timing and dedicated stunts, his feeble character looks disjointed throughout the film. His weakly written dialogues and scenes restrict him to depict the performer in him. Nevertheless, his confidence and screen presence might be the only reason for any last man standing in the cinema.

Another wasted talented actor is Anushka as Divya who barely has any scenes to prove her calibre. It is quite shocking to see her in a typical character as such when her career was travelling in an aweing quality.  

Comedy superstar Santhanam tries to save the film from crashing but his double meaning antics steals the gem of his witty one liner. By doing that Suraj have dug his own grave by soiling the biggest strength he had to resuscitate his film.

Other casts such as Suman, Milnd Soman, Saravanan, Prathap, Mahadevan in the name of antagonists, have just been utilised to move the story in the tried and tested line of action films released decade ago.

In overall, Suraj have assembled a good choice of talented star cast but failed big time in utilizing them well. 

Technicality

Saravanan’s camera work is apt for an action with nicely framed action scenes.

National award duo, editors, Praveen and Srikanth disappoint a little with gimmicky editing.

DSP’s music is the biggest down fall of the film with none of the song being pleasing, but instead a loud mixture of his previous works.

In a time where realistic commercial films are being made, gravity defying stunt sequences are a big eye sore.

In overall, technically, Alex Pandian does not display much innovation but a theme of exaggeration trailed by the director. 

Bottomline

In overall, Alex Pandian fails terribly in providing a commercial entertainer with gravity defying stunts, illogical screenplay and generic dialogues which will test your patience from start to finish.   

Verdict: Miss it and you will never regret

Rating: 1/5