Vijay has always been the go-to actor when it comes to big releases which screens on festive occasions to rake in the extra moolah offered generously by his hardcore fans, fervent haters (Read: mostly Ajith devotees) and neutral audiences. His bankability is such that even HDFC, ICICI banks etc. need to take a leaf out of his revenue generating prowess!
After Theri, Vijay had set his eyes on Pongal for his 'Bairavaa'. Teaming up with director Bharatan on yet another venture, (Remember the cataclysmic disaster 'Azhagiya Tamizh Magan'?), the trailer showed us the glimpses that 'Bairavaa' is going to revolve around a social-centric theme which was very evident from the court scene where the lawyer says 'How is this relevant to the case'
So, once you have seen the trailer, you know for sure that 'Bairavaa' may be 'Kathi' or 'Thupakki' parcelled in a different yet formulaic Vijay format to cater to the needs of the audience especially his devouts. Did it really live up to the expectations?
Everything in this world has pros and cons. But, if the cons outnumber, outweigh and eclipse the pros, that's when the house of cards fall apart without even the iota of evidence to show that the house existed in the first place.
'Bairavaa' has a solid, core story like the strong foundation of a building. It reflects the stark reality of the Medical Mafia that is rife in our society. Even an Adult actor/actress couldn't have bared their nakedness as plain as that is projected in Bairavaa of all those extorting and predating upon the helpless and hapless students aspiring and and dreaming to become successful doctors in their lives. 'Hey..That's a good story to discuss publicly in an open medium. What is to complain about it?' I can hear your mind voice. That's why I had already acknowledged that Bairavaa has a deeply relatable and au courant storyline like the farmers' issue or the sleepers cell matter. However, the latter movies kept you engaged till the end. 'So, you mean to say that Bairavaa failed to keep the audience at the edge of their seats'? I can once again read your mind voice crystal-clearly. Read on to find out.
It started with the Intro song. It was as if the intro song would cover the entire movie's duration and go on forever! Luckily the song came to an end after what seemed like ages. Vijay has had all kinds of possible 'mass-setting' intro scenes with the only exception of a Sky-Diving or jumping from a rocket! Here, the director thinks that he is giving a twist by showing us Sathish in the first scene wrapped from head to toe in blanket and then revealing it is not Vijay!
Speaking of Sathish, his jokes sporadically evoke laughter every now and then like the "IT..Nightie dialogue" or "Idhellam unaku edhuku" whenever Vijay monkeys around with his expressions. Just when you feel that the director has forgotten all about Sathish in the second half, he makes a reappearance like the Halley's Comet! in the fag end of the movie and plays an inconsequentially crucial part to bring down the main villain. Why I said "inconsequential", you will know when you watch the movie when Vijay plays a supposedly friendly hand with Daniel Balaji who is on the verge of turning into a new leaf but predictably what should happen happens!
Everyone knows that Vijay is going to bash up the goons and come up triumphs. But, movies like Thuppakki or Kathi kept you engaged with its narration of the story keeping in mind of Vijay's image. In Bairavaa, however, the good story is let down by an abysmal and dismal screenplay. On top of that, the breadcrumbs laid out by the director are so very evident that it will make you to predict like a seasoned Astrologer what the subsequent scenes would be just like Daniel Balaji's fate when the movie is actually in progress.
Nothing to talk much about Keerthi Suresh. The scene where she tells her life story to Vijay prior to the interval was more like a school kid reciting a poem to the teacher when questioned! Likewise, a good actor as Thambi Ramaiah was simply being trifled away like the withering of a leaf. If the director felt that the Rajender comedy sequence would make the audience go into raptures, it certainly ruptured the rapture to such clinical perfection that even the most boring history teacher would have found it as dull as dust!
Speaking of dust, Santhosh Narayanan's music was next to being worthless. His BGM was the only saving grace in this otherwise lacklustre outing. Also, if you have a keen ear, you can certainly spot that he had lifted and infused Interstellar's theme music in the film.
Maybe, if you watch it once more, you may find other film's themes to be copied very discreetly. I am not going to take that chance to view it the second time. Once was more than enough.
And Vijay. The film largely depends on him but the director has spectacularly and miserably failed to extract the full potential from him. In Bairavaa, he is performing the similar-to-same expressions that he had donned in Kathi, Thuppaki and Theri that you are left wondering whether you are watching any of those movies once again. Take for instance. In Theri, you have his child calling him 'Baby'. Here, it is 'Darling'. Maybe in the next movie, it will be 'Honey' or 'Bujju Kutti'!
Also, the scenes where he plays the coin between the fingers is a direct lift off from Pirates of Carribean.
Also, the scenes where he plays the coin between the fingers is a direct lift off from Pirates of Carribean.
In all these copied, borrowed, yawn-inducing scenes or the intermittent humor, one stand out moment in the movie was the Cricket choreographed stunt sequence which comes very early in the movie. I am sure in his upcoming films it will be replaced with Football or Basketball!
Even for an ardent 'Thalapathy' fanatic, Bairavaa had nothing new or great to offer except the above-mentioned cricket fight. This movie has again the standard run-of-the-mill interval block, same-to-similar staccato laugh, dance and the usual one song sung by Vijay himself. In fact, 'Kabali' had 'Magizhchi'. Here, it is 'Sirappu..Miga Sirappu'. It was really a good thing that no Thala fan said 'Serappu' whenever that dialogue was delivered!
But, one thing was made clear - With all the socio-centered themes incorporated in his films, Vijay is clearly forming a well-defined image to be an aspiring politician in real life. The important question is 'How soon?'.
Even for an ardent 'Thalapathy' fanatic, Bairavaa had nothing new or great to offer except the above-mentioned cricket fight. This movie has again the standard run-of-the-mill interval block, same-to-similar staccato laugh, dance and the usual one song sung by Vijay himself. In fact, 'Kabali' had 'Magizhchi'. Here, it is 'Sirappu..Miga Sirappu'. It was really a good thing that no Thala fan said 'Serappu' whenever that dialogue was delivered!
But, one thing was made clear - With all the socio-centered themes incorporated in his films, Vijay is clearly forming a well-defined image to be an aspiring politician in real life. The important question is 'How soon?'.
To sum it up, Bairavaa had all the elements and substances to be something extremely big with a huge larger-than image actor as Vijay. But, the execution of the movie was such that to put things into perspective, you have the best ingredients to make a delicious and mouth-watering Biryani but the cooking and presentation is so awful that it doesn't make sense for such cherry-picked constituents to be used to prepare the Biryani in the first place courtesy the chef!
By the movie's end, all I could say was "Pogalam pogalam va pogalam va Bye-Ravaa" !
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