Under The Spot Light: Bairavaa

This year's Ponggal turned out to be a special treat for Vijay fans, as the actor released his 60th film in his career in conjunction with this event in India. Vijay is one of the biggest actor in India and perhaps has the 2nd biggest fan base in India, only behind the great Thalaivar himself. So it is only natural that a Vijay movie generates a lot of hype, from both fans and haters. Let's dissect how Vijay 60th fared out in my opinion

Story Review

To sum it up, Bairavaa is a pakka commercial entertainer. The film's story will not create any magic neither will it wow you based on story brilliance or execution. The plot of the film is something you would have seen in countless other Tamil films, thus it is what makes it a commercial entertainer, because this kind of flow film has always worked with the Indian audience.

The film starts of with a mass/style entry of the film followed by an action block for the hero where he helps the weak and needy. This is followed by an opening advising song. Next the hero meets the heroine and it is almost instantly love at first sight. He tries to woo her together with a song sequence and soon after attempts proposes her. At this point we are almost mid of the film and the first half is blend together with a couple of comedy sequence between the hero and his friend.

As everything is smooth flowing and almost mid point, here comes the villain entry to turn the pace of the film and the whole direction of the film. A flashback scene comes in to set the structure for the second half and now the hero challenges the villain and wins the heroine. From here to the end of the film it is a cat and mouse game between the hero and the villain both going out to beat each other.in between this cat and mouse game comes a song between the hero and the heroine. As the hero is about to win, the villain will have an ace card to turn things his way, but than the hero bounces back and ends the villains chapter for once and for all. The end

By just reading that flow, a couple of other Tamil movies would have crossed your minds. It is a template that has been used over the years and it has proved to be successful with the audience depending on the director and the hero's presence.

Rating: 2.8/5.0

Director Review

Bharathan

When Vijay's 60th was announced to be directed by Bharathan, all my excitement as a Vijay faded. Bharathan was the same director who made his directional debut with Azhagiya Tamil Magan (ATM). After ATM was release, I was very much let down by Bharathan directional performance. Thus it was only natural I wasn't excited when I knew it was him he would be directing Vijay again.

The teaser also failed to create any hype for me and I kept my expectations at a very minimal in order to not get disappointed. As from the film, you could see that Bharathan chose a very safe script which he knew he can win with mass of the audience. Well played in that aspect.

If you were to really note, the flow between Bhairaa and Kathi doesn't differ too much. Both are an all out commercial entertainer, both involves a cat and mouse game between the hero and villain and both carried a strong social message. Yet Kathi felt so much better. I believe this is the difference between a talented director and an average director. Both has the same concept and flow but the execution is way different and you get two different feels. This is way Bharathan has to brush up.

Another area of improvement would be the utilization of his cast. Daniel Balaji should have been used more ruggedly, Satish should be more involved in the second half with Vijay and both Thambi Ramaiah and Sreeman should have more impact to the film

Rating: 2.4/5.0  

The Cast

Vijay

After Rajini, he is my favorite actor and it is for similar reasons. Both actors has such immense screen presence which can give goosebumps. Their solo scenes are amazing and both of them are at the top of their game when it comes to dialogue delivery and it is only both of them who can actually make work with a commercial entertainer concept film.

It was Vijay's performance that made Bairavaa worth the ticket money I paid. If it was some other actor I would be very much disappointed. His comedy timing, body language, action sequence was brilliant. It is no award winning performance nevertheless.When you want to do a film which is about the people's hero, Vijay is the man to go with. His performance in this film looks so effortless because the man is a natural in it. I wouldn't mind watching his scenes over again because he nails it with his screen presence

 Rating: 4.0/5.0

Keerthy Suresh

Her first ever movie which I watched was Thodari and ever since I have never liked watching her on the big screen. Yes she seemed to have many facial reactions, but I find her over doing it in her films which makes it annoying to watch.

Her performance here doesn't create any magic and infact in the whole flashback scene which took part with Vijay was so painful to watch. I was waiting for it to be over get film's focus back on Vijay. I didn't feel the chemistry between her and Vijay worked as well. She has alot of work to do to make her self one of the top actress in the industry and she has the time to do it still

 Rating: 2.2/5.0

The Music

Santosh Narayanan

When the album was released none of the songs turned my head. After watching the film my opinion did change. I think the opening song was good and the final song was good as well. the second song worked due to the way it was pictured

When it comes to hero's bgm, the combination between Santosh Narayanan and Arunraja Kamaraj are the best in the business at the moment. Their combo with Nerupu da for Rajini was perhaps the best in 2016 and with Varalam Vaa for Bairavaa they have recreated that magic again. Everytime that song/bgm was played with Vijay's screen presence it will hype you up. Credit to Santosh Narayanan and Arunraja Kamaraj for that and not to forget our fellow Malaysian Roshan Jamrock as well

 Rating: 3.3/5.0

Final Verdict: Bairavaa an all and out pakka treat for Thalapathy Fans

Final Rating: 2.95/5.0