THERI - THERIffic Ride for Vijay Fans

After the lukewarm Puli there was a lot of pressure on both Vijay and Atlee to deliver a successful product. Have they delivered? Well let's see. Theri begins with Vijay aka Joseph Kuruvilla who is having a very peaceful life. His entire world revolves around his daughter (played beautifully by Nainika). After a chance encounter with thugs we get to see the real side of Joseph. Enter Vijay Kumar (again Vijay) who is nothing short of a super cop who goes about doing his chops. A rape case investigation leads to Vijay trying to nab the key suspect a minister's(Mahendran with a unusual performance ) son and the end result irks the minister big time. Does Mahendra and extract his revenge on Vijay? Does Vijay escape from it? Will Joseph Kuruvilla 's past comeback to haunt him are some of the questions which get answered over the course of the movie.

Vijay has given one of his best performances switching between the multiple roles. As Joseph Kuruvilla, he is a doting father and his portrayal of Vijay Kumar is his best cop avatar till date. Mahendran as the minister makes for a unusual and compelling villain. The clash sequences between Vijay and Mahendran are a treat for the fans. The best scene in the entire movie is the interval block where Vijay searches for Mahendran 's son and their interaction following that. It is the best paisa vasool moment for fans. Atlee has handled all the mass scenes very well. The cop intro, Jithu Jilladi song, action sequence with beggars, interval block, hotel fight all are a treat for the fans. Another aspect is Vijay 's stunning screen presence combined with Atlee' s dialogues. The camera work by George C Williams complements Atlee's effort in showing Vijay as an ultra-stylish cop. Samantha and Amy Jackson have given their best in their respective roles, but their makeup and hairstyle does not work out.The support cast of "Mottai" Rajendran, Baby Nainika, Raadhika Sarath Kumar, Prabhu, Kaali Venkat give the much needed balance to the movie.   

However Theri has it's share of flaws. The love scenes featuring Samantha (who plays a doctor in the movie) hamper the pace of the movie. The over the top melodrama dilutes the movie to a  extent. Another drawback is the runtime of the second half which could have been trimmed. However there are enough Vijay moments that will satisfy both Vijay fans and Ajith fans. This is where GV scores big time with his Theri dubstep. He nails it big time in the mass scenes. 

PRO's :

1. Vijay as Vijay Kumar

2. Atlee gets the fan moments right

3. Action sequences

4. Pre Interval block and combo scenes with Mahendran

5. GV bgm, Jithu Jilladi song

CONS :

1. Love scenes with Sam (As in they hamper the screen play)

2. Over the top melodrama

3. Lengthy second half

Overall Theri is the kind of movie which will thoroughly satisfy people who love mass movies and a comfortable watch for the neutral.

Verdict :

Vijay returns big time in Theri after the disappointing Puli. Paisa Vasool for fans and a comfortable watch for the neutrals

VISAARANAI - For Justice

Friends and family of victims of custodial brutality never know what their loved ones went through under the pretext of 'interrogation'. Visaaranai is for those people who seek to know the truth behind the death of their beloved and for the general public who just need to know that such barbaric activities are happening unchecked.

Visaaranai deals with the life of four Tamil youngsters – Paandi (Attakathi Dinesh), Murugan (Aadukalam Murugadoss), Kumar (Pradheesh Raj) and Afsal (Silambarasan) who work as labourers in Guntur. The local police are under heavy pressure to crack a high-profile theft case, in which a few Tamil-speaking people are involved. To appease their superior officers, the local police arrest the four friends, who have no house of their own and sleep in a park, and torture them in order to force a confession. Paandi (Attakathi Dinesh) remains defiant that neither he nor his friends will accept to committing the crime and when Inspector Murugavel (Samuthirakanni) comes in aid of the youngsters when they are produced in the court, all their nightmares seem to have come to an end. All four are released and they go to meet Inspector Murugavel, who in-turn asks them to kidnap a person. The incidents which follow form the main plot of the story.

The top-notch performances delivered by almost all members of the cast is one of the main plus points in Visaaranai. Attakathi Dinesh stands out from the rest of the cast and this is possibly the best he has given as an actor. It is an award-worthy performance as well. Careful career choices, combined with refinement of his acting skills, in terms of method acting, can make Dinesh one of the most sought after actors in the Tamil Film industry.

Aadukalam Murugadoss’s comic elements, though basic and of low dose, come in places where the tension is extremely high and thereby lighten the atmosphere. Samuthirakanni, an established brand in the new age Tamil film industry plays the role of Inspector Muthuvel, a cop who tries to be honest but is forced to commit heinous crimes. And he gives yet another impressive performance. Audience may never forget the sadistic Inspector Rao, played by Ajay Ghosh. The savagely violent way he hits Paandi is something which not a lot of people can forget in a short time.

Innovative camera work by S.Ramalingam adds to the success of the movie. Particularly impressive shots include the torture sequences, the swamp-chase and the encounter scenes. G.V.Prakash’s musical touch adds the element of sorrow and pain to the movie.

For the audience who still creep out on thinking about the sounds of men shouting and wailing in the movie, here is some information on the Sound Engineer of the movie, T.Udaya Kumar. Udaya Kumar had been a part of Ajith’s Vedalam and in Visaaranai he has given it all, recording audio and perfecting it in such a way that the audience are just not able to get over the sounds of men screaming in agony, guns being fired etc.

Kudos to Vetrimaaran for giving a movie which is not going to fail in educating scores of people who have no idea of such cruelty happening.  Visaaranai is only his 3^rd Movie, but he is proving to be one of the best directors in our country. His ability to extract the required amount of work, which he feels is perfect, from his cast and technicians should be lauded. Creating a screenplay from a book, while retaining its core elements and also adding one's own thoughts is a tough process but Vetrimaaran has nailed it with Visaaranai. The movie is based on a book titled “Lockup”, written by “Auto” Chandran, an auto driver based in Coimbatore. “Lockup” contains Chandran’s experiences of undergoing torture at a Guntur Jail in 1983 and one of the characters in the movie is based on him. Visaaranai is a movie not to be missed and the next time you read about an “encounter-murder” in the newspapers, you will know that not all of it is entirely true, and that there might be a Paandi or a Murugesan involved, who was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.