In ‘Uyir Thamizhukku’, there is a scene where Imaan Annachi’s character snatches the microphone away from Ameer’s character and tells him not to make a three week long speech when three minutes would do. We wish the film took this advice to heart.
‘Uyir Thamizhukku’ follows a wave pattern, it goes up and down. But soon we realise that it spends more time in troughs of lows than we were prepared for; and it has been ages since the movie lifted itself to a crest of high. And once we realise this, it becomes painful to continue watching.
The movie opens with the murder of a prominent politician Pazhakadai Ramachandran (Anandraj), who belonged to the opposition party. We are told this could be a conspiracy hatched by MGR Pandian (Ameer Sultan) as Ramachandran doesn’t approve of Pandian’s love for his daughter Thamizhselvi (Chandini Tamilarasan). What follows is not only Pandian’s attempt to prove his innocence and win the Bypoll of the constituency that fell vacant, but also our test of staying awake.
Debut director Adham Bava seems unsure if he wants to build on Ameer’s off-screen image, as an outspoken critic of government policies or make a story-focused political satire with him that confusion remains till the end of this 129 minute long movie. Why does Adham Bava say Pandian has entered politics only to woo Thamizhselvi if he delivers another long dialogue explaining his action plan if he wins the poll?
Another blindspot in Bava’s direction is lack of brevity and abundance of exposition. Several scenes spend too much explaining where few lines would have done enough. On the other hand, scenes that actually needed more attention are skimmed over quickly. The level of detailing required in a high-profile murder, that of a sitting MLA, is shockingly absent. It so happens that the MLA is muffled and stabbed to death by two in the middle of the street. On the other hand, scene after scene of Pandian’s love affairs are thrust on us. As the first half doesn’t end on a shocking note, there was not much to expect from second half either. But one would at least not want things to descend into more mess, which is exactly what happens. The stakes of Bypoll outcome were conceived casually.
Uyir Thamizhukku’ also suffers from logical loopholes. If Pandian is in love with Thamizh shouldn’t he join her party instead of rival party? The winner of Bypoll, said to have eight rounds, gets announced after just six rounds. And this list can go on.
While Uyir Thamizhukku boasts some good actors like Ameer in its star cast, we are left struggling even to find an average performance. Except for MGR song with catchy lines, Vidyasagar’s music too is passé. In his recent interviews Ameer has said he will not call the film a special one for him. We couldn’t agree more.
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