Movie Review – Thalaivi 2021: Botched By Massive Missteps, Film Is Amma Of All Misfires
The life of J Jayalalithaa makes definitely made an outstanding story. Unsuitable in the unforgiving industry that turned out to be a politician with an iron fist, Jayalalithaa’s life comes before being interrupted by a dramatic rise and personal decline.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that some biopics have been announced following his death in 2016. Throughout it, director AL Vijay’s Thalaivi often makes news, partly because of Kangana Ranaut, who plays the role of a late politician, who keeps the sound alive.
movie review thalaivi
However, after watching Thalaivi, Many people wonder if she spent more energy on film advertising than playing. Firstly she does not speak Tamil at all. The symmetry of the lips fades, and the words that we hear are almost completely lost to the person who spoke them on the screen. This is even more amazing in the sequence of songs. The only scene where the lips align is the same when he speaks in English dialogue. Perhaps Vijay is based on Ranaut chewing gum during the shooting, which he hoped to fix in a recording studio. We do not know if that was the case, but it can be confirmed that there was no writing correction.
It may not be Ranaut’s fault at all. Writer-Director Vijay does nothing at all about this film. A large part of the 1st episode plays like a mad skit for commercials with MJR (Aravind Swamy played by former actor and Tamil Prime Minister Nadhu MGR) and Jaya (Ranaut) a retro costume for sports and dancing around the trees. These dresses are beautiful, rejuvenating the past without making them look funny. The design of the set is also attractive – houses, cars, open spaces. Thank God the first video of Kangana’s dance did not reach the film, but a large part of the first act only reminds us that we know a lot about these two people in public.
The dialogues of Madhan Karky are empty. At the end of the series in which he was violently attacked, his sari was torn, and he was expelled from parliament, with the entire opposition standing in awe, listening to his vague speech. “Mahaabhaaradhathukku ignores per irukku, which is another name of Mahabharata,” as she gritted her teeth before suggesting to say “Jaya.”
The whole group is booked for punch discussion. In most cases, this does not even work. For example, there is an incident when Jaya returned from Delhi to tell RN Veerappan where she had been fired from a party. She begins his punch dialogue, in which he says “sari” in an unpleasant wasteful way, just to move with a little movement. It ends up being like a joke, like someone who doesn’t see you being treated.
Not just the dialogue, the screen text itself feels tedious. It treats chronological events in the life of the character as a whole. It exaggerates real events with great effect. It uses data cards to show us the timeline; one slide describes it as 1989, a few years after 1967. We hope that non-hidden names like Karuna (of Tamil Nadu Prime Minister Karunanidhi), RN Veerappan (real politician RM Veerappan), and Sasi (of Sasikala) will motivate the audience to close the film gaps.
If there is a little saving grace, imitate. Samuthirakani, like RN Veerappan, introduces the lower opponent – we never see the emotions in his face, but he always carries a good amount of disrespect for women. From this great introduction to the forums where she speaks in English with Rajiv Gandhi, he makes the character-focused and natural, something Ranaut strives to achieve.
As the caretaker of Jaya, Thambi Ramaiah brings warmth to the film, but it can also be very helpful. Aravind Swamy tries to mimic the style and style of MGR, which works great on montage scenes but falls down the other way. Her relationship with Jaya plays a relationship between abused teens who don’t know what a post-date process is.
Nasser plays Mu Karuna cunningly in both ways and voice. Of all the problems in the film, the character of Karuna is probably the worst. It is just disrespectful. In the third act, he should appear as the main opponent, but the character is written with such contempt that he becomes small. We understand that the character is not well written because Vijay does not believe that this film is directly related to the vision of Jaya. What we can’t understand is a written rival.
If I had to describe Thalaivi in a single word, The word would be ‘easy.’ The film begins and ends where it is appropriate for the filmmaker not to get into political trouble. It stays true to real events, doing little work in the form of writing. It does little to explore the inner journey of any of its characters. Instead, it exaggerates the events so dramatically that if we could make two more biopics like this, we could end up giving Jayalalithaa sainthood. If the life of Jayalalithaa had been less dramatic, lack of imagination Vijay would have been all on screen for us to see.
edited and proofread by: nikita sharma
