real Happen in Tamil Nadu (Chennai)
Among a deluge of movies portraying rowdies who make a living out of taking the law into their own hands, it is a relief to see Thamizhan, that does not advocate that route and instead, propagates a valid message about the people knowing the law of the land and their rights. But director Majeed needs to take a few pointers from directors like Shankar on how to convey a socially relevant message in an entertaining manner. A lacklustre romance and crude comedy all but negate the effectiveness of the core message in this movie.
The movie details the circumstances that lead to the President himself releasing a postage stamp of Surya(Vijay), a lawyer in TamilNadu. Surya is a law school graduate, taking life lightly with his lover Priya(Priyanka Chopra) and his group of friends. When he realises the ignorance of the common man when it comes to the law of the land, he begins a crusade to educate him on the tenets of Indian law. His efforts lead to a virtual revolution where every man learns the ins and outs of the law and fights injustice based on his knowledge. When a wealthy plantation owner GK(Ashish Vidyarthi) arranges the death of Surya's brother-in-law Sakthivel(Nasser) after losing a case, Surya vows to bring GK to the streets through legal means.
Taking a cue from Shankar's Mudhalvan , Director Majeed cleverly picks a message that is close to the heart of the common man. So he is able to tackle everyday issues that resonate with the viewer. Viewers will definitely cheer when characters they probably meet everyday, like the rude conductor or the traffic policeman expecting some extra income, get their comeuppance from individuals who are now well versed in the law. But like most directors, he too goes to the extreme in depicting the changed situation, resulting in some scenes turning comedic.
But barring the scenes portraying Vijay's attempts to popularise basic law, there is little left to admire, or even enjoy, in the movie. Both the romance and comedy, which together occupy a hefty portion of the running time, are difficult to endure. Though the romance starts off promising to be cute, with both Vijay and Priyanka being in love but not conveying it to the other, it doesn't deliver on this promise. The sequences with the balloon are more silly than romantic and Vivek's intrusions don't help either. Its funny how Priyanka all but disappears once Vijay begins his social crusade but reappears at regular intervals to pave the way for a duet!
Director Majeed earns come points by not stopping with highlighting a key social issue but actually suggesting some concrete solutions to remedy the situation. Vijay's monologue in the court in the climax does have some intelligent(though Utopian) suggestions about increasing the quality of justice in the country.
Vijay does a neat job though his youth does work against him when he starts delivering advice while looking at the screen. Priyanka Chopra is likely to join the long line of single-movie heroines in Tamil cinema recently. Nasser and Revathi have little to do while Ashish Vidyarthi doesn't add much to another routine villain role. New music director Imaan composes some peppy and youthful tunes that help Vijay show off some impressive steps in the song sequences.
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