BEAST (2022)

Critic No. 277

Director: Nelson

Written by: Nelson

Produced by: Sun Pictures

Casts:  Vijay, Pooja Hegde, Selvaraghavan, Shine Tom Chacko, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, VTV Ganesh, Sathish Krishnan

Music: Anirudh

Language: Tamil

Genre: Action, Comedy

SYNOPSIS: 

After a shopping mall in Chennai is hijacked by terrorists who hold the visitors as hostages, Veera Raghavan (Vijay), an ex Raw Agent also trapped in the mall, must save the hostages by eliminating the terrorists.

REVIEW:

After a clear run of form with Kolamavu Kokila (2018) and Doctor (2021), Nelson has established himself as a terrific entertainer that even led him to clinch projects with the top actors in India, Vijay and Rajini for his 3rd and 4th film. His unique voice of black comedy is something that is loved by all sections of the audience. However, with Beast, did Nelson get carried away with an intimidating big team of talents? 

In Beast, he takes a backdrop that is serious - a hostage situation - and tries to infuse comedy in it. But this time, though, some jokes land, the existence of many characters looks weird and the blend of the cracks never sets. In some instances, the ridiculously logic defying stunts and tacky VFX evoke more laughter than the intended comedy. 

The film kicks off with a much muted prologue involving Veera Raghavan (Vijay), a senior RAW officer who ends up psychologically scarred following a mission to capture a most-wanted terror mastermind (Liliput Faruqui). He leaves the organisation and is trying to get rid of his demons, but then, the mall which he is at with his girlfriend Preethi (Pooja Hegde) is taken over by terrorists. The government's negotiator Althaf Hussain (Selvaraghavan) manages to coax Veera into taking up the rescue mission, but can he succeed overcome the multiple terrorists in the mall?

On paper, the premise looks gold and even feels like it can be a laughathon if the film focuses on real characters and believable situations. However, Nelson packs the film with unbelievably bizarre scenarios where the protagonist, Veera is portrayed like an immortal human being who never faces a low point through the obstacles he faces in the story. He never loses or fubles anytime which makes the film lose out steam quite quickly into the story, because, we know that no matter what Veera can never be defeated. So basically, the laugh is on the villain.  To reiterate this, towards the climax, Veera even utters to the villain, "Innum konjam tough kuduthurukalam (you could have been tougher)".

Vijay dances well and looks really stylish in the film. There are some nice gritty stunts that he really does well too. But it’s just a waste that such an ‘expensive’, talented actor is wasted in such a meddling affair. Pooja looks a million as always but is used merely as a glam doll (something that we do not see in Nelson’s films which are known for strong women characters). Among the tons of comedians only VTV Ganesh’s dialogues land well and even Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley and the over exaggerated Sathish look out of place. I liked Selvaraghavan’s character as a sarcastic police officer but gets lost in the Vijay driven film and he literally disappears in the third act. 

Talking about the third act, though the film was a bit shaky till then, it was still entertaining with Anirudh’s power house music and VTV Ganesh but it then enters a whole new fantastical region where it tests the audience's intelligence at a whole new level. Spoiler Alert - Veera goes into Pakistan in a jet plane to bring back the terrorists that India released. At this point the film crumbles into pieces. 

It was quite disappointing looking at Nelson banking entirely on his star to carry the film this time to an extent that even Anirudh or the star himself Vijay couldn’t salvage the film’s fate. Of course, there could have been more reasons for this misfire than Nelson himself (e.g studio interference, rushed timelines, etc) but unfortunately the filmmaker always carries the burden. I really hope Nelson bounces back with a much better film with Rajini. 

VERDICT:

With a shoddy script filled with tonal inconsistencies and logic gaps, Nelson fumbles to create any impact even with the top guns in the cast ensemble and technical front. 

CELLULOID METER- 2.5/5: