Sriram Srinivasan

Honestly, as a neutral, it’s a big big letdown from Lokesh Kanagaraj. Yes, Vijay looks rock solid in a never seen avatar ever before & he had done full justice to the character, but the story falls completely flat in the second half. There are bits & bits in the first half which looks extremely engaging with astounding hyena sequence with strong build up to the Vijay’ s character. At one point of time, I really pinched myself to check if it’s really a LK movie with superstition angle in the second half with no depth to neither Arjun or Sanjay Dutt characters. I have no idea why there is Priya Anand or Anurag Kashyap in the film. I would say of all Anirudh’s releases over the last few years with all the big stars, this is one movie where the BGM didn’t work for me at all. The Napaleon character which we all loved in Kaithi movie was very weak and it looked like all the LCU references were deliberately inserted in the movie and didn’t find it organic at all. On a positive note, Vijay’s character & acting was top notch and it’s certainly his the best performance ever in his career. Overall, it’s Lokesh least crafted movie in his filmography.

I am completely blown away to describe my experience watching Vikram on the big screen. Foremost, I earnestly applaud Lokesh Kanagaraj for his spectacular & flamboyant presentation throughout the movie. I am extremely impressed with the way he handled the huge star cast ensembles for this movie. What a narrative, oh my god, it’s unbelievable. The character arcs of Amar & Santhanam stole the show. I was sceptical about Vijay Sethupathy’s role in Vikram cos of the same actor’s Antagonist portrayal in the Director’s previous movie, but not even in one frame, I could able to see a resemblance. It was one of the most terrifying characters I have seen in Tamil Cinema. I still can’t believe that this is the same Fahad Fazil who was bluntly rejected & trolled by the audience in the early days of his filmy career. I can’t think of anyone else other than Fahad Fazil & Vijay Sethupathi in the roles they have enacted in this movie. All credit goes to the director for his perfect choice of actors for the well-written character arcs in the movie. Anirudh, I’m completely blown away & has no words to say about his BGM which was outrageously exceptional. I can’t believe how audaciously he comes up with chartbusters movie after movie without any misses. I would confidently say that this era belongs to Anirudh & he is gonna rule over the entire film industry of our nation as he already has a proven record in Telugu & now his arrival in Bollywood with King Khan himself. Last but not least, I am an ardent fan of 2 actors in the Tamil film industry, one is Ajith & the master craftsman Padmabhushan Dr Kamalhaasan. I have been his fan ever since I watched Thenali FDFS at Satyam on a Diwali day and after the magical Hey Ram & Aalavaandan, I transformed into a hardcore fan. Over the last decade, none of his films made any impact except Viswaroopam & I almost thought his filmy career got over with his political aspirations, then came the teaser of Vikram on his b’day. It was extremely nostalgic for me to get excited again for a Kamal movie afterViswaroopam. “Vikram” is a tailor made role for his mass & classic image & Lokesh Kanagaraj just celebrated his icon scene after scene, every single shot, and the camera angle was just mind blowing. This movie is the perfect example of how well a fanboy could present his idol to the gallery. I am super excited to see Kamal, Suriya & Karthi all in the same Lokesh cinematic universe & it’s going to explode like a Volcanic eruption in the movie industry. Thank you, Lokesh 🙏

SS Rajamouli is an iconic director who wisely blends the right human emotions, drama as well as extravagant grandeur on the right proportion. I guess he predominantly gave the significance to the stardom of 2 superstars than the story, its screenplay & emotional values. Both Ramcharan & Jr. NTR flamboyantly flex their muscles to showcase the true masculine, but what happens here is the story & the backdrop of those events taken a back seat. I honestly expected more from SS Rajamouli Garu as I thought a little emotion, drama shall be sweeper off by the two superstars that too at Pre-Independence era. After the Bahubali series where the intervals of both the parts were highly mind-blowing with goosebumps. I expected the same with RRR, where I got severely disappointed. Having concentrated more on hyper heroism, SSR Gaaru missed on his strength, that is, to make the movie connect with the people. After an electrifying intro of both the superstars, I expected more, but I got extremely disappointed while coming to the theatre. On a good note to finish off, MM Keeravani has elevated the scenes with his magical background score.

I am a hardcore #AK fan & I have been watching all his movies FDFS since Citizen. It’s been 3 long years since we had seen AK in the big screen. To be honest, the movie has been a big let down. The casting has been pathetic, too lengthy & overall presentation to be really poor. I guess this is the first time we didn’t see any notable theme for AK by Yuvan in the movies he had worked with the star. A lot of speculations on the background score, whether it has been Ghibran or Yuvan. We never expected this kinda movie from Vinoth who used to be meticulous in his writing & detailing to be top notch. The whole movie has a predictable storyline & full of cliches. Yes, the stunts were fantabulous & cinematography was brilliant, but that alone not sufficient for entertainment. I still can’t believe the fact that the same director who made this movie had taken Sathurangavettai, Theeran & Nerkonda paarvai. Over the last 10 - 12 years, only Venkat Prabhu, Vishnuvardhan & to an extent GVM met the expectations of his fans. AK certainly needs to change his work style to continuously work with the same director on the trot for 3-4 movies. It’s too monotonous and the fans doesn’t encounter any change from the previous movie cos the next movie shall also come from the same director. Though Rajini’s stardom around the world, Vijay’s star power entire down south cannot be matched, AK is still the number one when it comes to TN. The fans shall almost treat him as a demigod & extremely hardcore. You will see the rage when you watch his movies in the first couple of days. Having said that, as like Rajini & Vijay, AK should also start doing movies to wider range of directors like Sudha Kongara, Pushkar-Gayathri, Ranjith, Lokesh Kanagaraj with his ever loyal VB & Vishnuvardhan. Most of these directors have pitched in one liners to him in the past. Just a word from AK, everyone would throng to his place to do a movie with him due to the respect & admiration towards him. I am sorry if it had been a long review, but I am thoroughly disappointed & my expectations for AK61 is at the rock bottom at this time. I hope Suresh Chandra or any of his close acquaintance read this review & take to our everlasting favourite, chief AK.