Kaaviya Thalaivan. Vasanthabala’s fourth film; and most definitely a film that will add a few more awards to his mantelpiece. I’d listened and liked the songs, and went in thinking “If Prithviraj and Siddarth are in a Tamil movie, it’s gotta be a good one.” And I was totally right, as soon as I saw that Ynot and Varun Manian* had produced the film I knew it would be fantastic experience. I enjoyed the to such an extent that I began to see how great it could be with a few minor tweaks, mainly to the script.
Acting: There are so many layers to the acting in this film, you have Siddharth and Prithviraj acting as Kali and Gomathi in a film, and then you have Kali and Gomathi acting in period dramas in a 1920s theatre. To see these guys can act in such contrasting acting styles without skipping a beat is dazzling.
Soundtrack: To be quite honest I wasn't too sure about this soundtrack until I saw the movie. But wow, A. R. Rahman has put so much thought and love into these songs, but you can’t fully appreciate them until you’ve seen the theatre performances that go with each song. They really were written to be watched. Just amazing.
An Unusual Premise: Most of the people I spoke to after the film said “it’s a different kind of film” and that it is; but I always find that the simple stories always hit me harder. There is no space to go on tangents. They’re to the point and fascinating in their own way.
I really love the theme of Art fuelling Revolution, the setting, and the tension really worked for me.
Script: I found the dialogue far too explicit, so many of the characters told the audience how they were feeling rather than showing us. Now this isn’t always a bad thing, but when you have actors like Prithviraj on your team you do not need to be writing dialogue like this. I found that Prithviraj would convey in one look what Gomathi was feeling, and in the next shot he’d have to repeat this in words to the audience and it was so frustrating, the audience were being treated like idiots.
Ending: I’m not going to sugar coat this at all, the film’s ending was lazy. The dramatic gunshot at the beginning of the film is not reshown or indicated to, and suddenly the climax is happening and it’s emotional and then the film ends, far too quickly and then there’s a self-indulgent sunset with “A FILM BY VASANTHABALA” over it and it pretty much ruined that emotional climax for me wow.
Freedom Fighting: Whilst, as I mentioned, I love the art fuelling revolution theme, I’m going to have to repeat myself and say it was all way too explicit. I just feel like the film really could have worked with allegory here, the theatre group functioning as a microcosmic India maybe? Even without this, I felt that the film really pushed the representation of the revolution to the point where it became virtually meaningless
Overall opinion: An incredibly well made and refreshing film, that just missed the mark in terms of its potential.
*both having produced Vaayai Moodi Pesavum earlier this year