VISWASAM (2019)
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| Critic - No.164 |
Casts: Ajithkumar, Nayanthara, Anikha, Vivek, Jagupathi
Language: Tamil
Genre: Action / Drama
SYNOPSIS:
Thookudurai (Ajith), a village ruffian, clashes with a big shot to protect his long separated family.
REVIEW:
After a dismal product like Vivegam, many eyebrows were raised when director Siva signed Ajith for the fourth time. In my opinion, except, their first outing Veeram (2014), none of the others made a big emotional connection with the audience. However, after watching this film, we get a sense of how the team has applied all the lessons learned from their past fumbles.
Siva is clearly more comfortable in rural subject and Viswasam oozes with that confidence right from the first frame where he opens with a series of Ariel shots of the village greenery. He takes a beaten to death story and has tried to treat it with energy from frame to frame. By focus sing on the thread of father and daughter’s love, Siva builds the stakes around that quite consistently. The main conflict between Thookudurai and his wife Niranjana is well structured and convincing. Thookudurai admits his mistake and without any ego clashes, he stays away until a grave danger nears them. This rarely happens in a big hero film where they are shown as perfect souls.
If the first half is fun and comical, the second half takes a detour as an emotional roller coaster. Yes, the film has many melodramatic dialogues or moments where section of audiences might turn restless but the overall emotional arc is quite genuine with a good concluding message that ensures that we leave the hall with smiles. The last 15 minutes of the film will remind us again how strong Ajith is as an actor than a star. I found this film more complete than Veeram which has a similar tone (that was more comical of course) but lacked the emotional quotient.
That said, we get to see the energetic loosened up Ajith we use to admire in early 2000s and it’s extremely refreshing to see him dance his heart out after almost a decade of films that only show him talking with straight face and walking in slow motion. Nayanthara is a perfect fit as the strong headed doctor who doesn’t get shunned off like a typical heroine in masala films. In fact, her role over powers Ajith’s at some parts. Anikha as their daughter, carries her character with a sense of maturity. She is morally strong, passionate and at the same time silently yearns for someone to fill the void of father’s love. Thank God she is not portrayed as your usual (act) cute, pampered rich kid.
Vetri’s cinematography brings out the village's festive colours during the first half and jumps into a darker theme in the second. The exuberance in the interval rain fight is an example of his hard work. Dhilip Subbarayan’s meticulous, larger than life fight scenes are another exciting (guilty pleasure) factor of the film. D.Imman's songs are well placed and the climax BGM plays a major part in concluding the film as tearjerker.
On the flip side, the romantic track between Nayan and Ajith looks too generic and unbelievable. I can’t be convinced on how a high flying doctor will fall in love with a village ruffian in just days. The film has tons of comedians such as Robo Shankar, Vivek, Thambi Ramaiah and Yogi Babu but none of their tracks are strong enough to buy our laughs. Something that Veeram got it perfect. The lack of a formidable villain is another major problem the film struggles with. Jagupathi’s intention for the revenge looks far-fetched as well.
Viswasam is not a perfect film and it clearly doesn’t want to be. The commercial aspects mostly work in favour of the story and Siva clearly knows the pulse of the family audiences and Ajith fans, whom seem to be the two sets of target audience of the film. There is less of wanna-be factor we saw in Vedalam and Vivegam. This time, Siva keeps the writing clean, fun and simple which brings him back in form finally.
VERDICT:
Despite the template, predictable story, ‘Viswasam’ sits comfortably as the best outing from Siva-Ajith combo that offers an earnest emotional thread quoted under the ‘massy’ treatment.
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