VILLAIN ~ Real Cinemas review ~ Villain is a total letdown sans Lal Sir.

[realcinemas]

It has been 3 weeks since one of the most awaited movie of the season " VILLAIN " released. I thought of delaying my review due to several reasons.

Here's my views on Villain from what I have understood cinema....I am just a beginner learning new things and sorry if any industry bigwigs or fans reads this and gets hurt....it is just my views and I have the right to do so.

THEATER:

TVM ARIES PLEX - Screen 1 - FDFS

EXPECTATIONS:

Always have high expectations on a Lal sir movie, but decided to keep my expectations low as the director - actors last outing Mr.Fraud was just a senseless cinema by any standards of viewing.

CROWD:

Huge crowd as expected for a well hyped / marketed Lal sir movie on a release day. Atmosphere was just electrifying. Rockline Venkitesh sir and his team was there to watch the movie at Aries.

SCREENPLAY, STORY & DIRECTION :

I like the writer far better than the director in Unnikrishnan sir. He has written some of my favorites The Tiger, Grand Master, Madambi , Aviramam and at the same time he has come up with damb squibs like I G, Pramani, The Thriller, I love me, Mr. Fraud.

With 2.5 years of scripting and discussions one would expect something different from the script writer Unnikrishnan sir and thats exactly where the movie suffers. It follows the same path of every film made in this genre "Thriller" and has nothing new to offer on screenplay or story. Again I am no one to judge a director like Unnikrishnan sir...it is just my views.

So many characters looked half baked and these characters looked as if they were written in a weeks time for a story build up to oppose the hero, sorry Villain. The writer has invested ample time on Lal sirs character which shows on the output as well. Unfortunately cinema is not about just one character and how he is presented,those are bygone times and might click one in every hundred outings these days. Came across a statement from Unnikrishnan sir stating that an actor can perform well only if a script is good, I believe an actor can save a movie just like how Lal sir has lifted Villain a step high.

Surprisingly I liked the director in Unnikrishnan this time.....did a neat job despite a flawed script.

MUSIC :

Kandittum can be rated as one of the best songs of the year and the song pathiye nee during credits suited well for the movie. The club song and the title song is just a " Thattikootu " and could have been better if 4 Musics invested some more time in it.

CAMERA:

Manoj Paramahamsa and N.K Ekambaram has done a decent job and the output looks refreshing. Not sure what extra quality or sharpness 8K has brought in for Villain other than personal happiness for the camera man and director who knows the technical sides of it. One hardcore fan said he could see the sharpness on Lal sirs face, well atleast one good review about it.

EDITING:

Thrillers are meant to be crisp and engaging. Shameer Mohammad has done an excellent job to get things connected in this flawed screenplay which goes back and forth to flashback and present.

ACTION :

3 actions directors, fighters from overseas etc...etc.

Action lacks impact given the names and hype associated with it. Good that the names were mentioned so that audiences came to know that big names were associated with it.

The dress code for Lal sir in the first action sequence and even the sets made for the major action scenes looked customized and odd.

THE MOVIE:

The movie is high on emotions from the word go and is low on content to make a viewer glued to their seats. I felt there were too many incomplete things happening in the movie which affects the flow of the movie. I really felt the last few sequences of Lal Sir - Vishal - Hansika were not at all acceptable to any type of viewers and too philosophical. . All the major dialogues shown in the trailer of the movie are either references and Lal sir's lines against taking revenge and preaching towards villain and his girl friend looks really jaded. Entertainment or class is what people are looking for and unfortunately Villain does not offer any of these. There is one scene which can be called the scene of the year, hats off to the complete actor and director for pulling out such an unconventional scene with so much beauty.

PERFORMANCES :

Lal Sir

Lal sir excelled as Mathew Manjooran a emotionally troubled father, Husband and cop. His superlative performance is the only saving grace of the movie.

Manju Warrier

Manju does a good job, but repeated emotional scenes of Manju doesn't work in favor of the movie

Vishal & Hansika

Vishal's and Hansika's role is poorly written and their flashbacks are not at all convincing. You don't feel anything for their characters. If they are aimed at Tamil release, fine. If not, I dont think their combination has done any favor to the movie.

Other actors

Siddique, Chemban Vinod has done their part well. Rashi Khanna did better than expected. Sreekanth, Aju, Renji Panicker etc are just wasted with unimportant roles.

CROWD RESPONSE & VERDICT:

Have missed very few FDFS shows of Lal sir and and in my point of view the crowd was disappointed with the proceedings. I watched the movie with three friends and everyone felt it as an average fare.

I saw the movie with my family a week later and surprisingly they liked the movie to an extend despite my average feedback.

I wanted Villain to be a blockbuster, but after watching it I felt it deserves nothing more than an average success. A huge success would have led to more & more unnecessary hyped movies in future. Hope this will be a learning curve to all associated with it.

POST DVD RELEASE:

Saw few statements like the movie didn't do good in theaters and it will be declared as a "CULT" movie post its dvd release.The truth is that, it has nothing extra ordinary to boast about other than Lal sirs performance and will never get that "CULT" movie status down the years. Villain will always be an average outing with a superlative performance from Lal sir .

It is not the show count that matters, but how people accepts the movie.The average theater response with out any new release opposition just proves that.

2.5 / 5 - Average and that too just for Lal sirs towering performance.

[shivankuty]

Great review man...i too think that this will never be a cult status after torrent release...many here said the same thing about solo too..but it dissapointd there....it will happn to villan also...

[realcinemas]

Great review man...i too think that this will never be a cult status after torrent release...many here said the same thing about solo too..but it dissapointd there....it will happn to villan also...

It was better to release Solo straight on dvd....a very bad choice by DQ.

I had a tough time at the Cinemas and my family lost interest half way through watching the dvd.

Villainumayi onnum compare cheyaan polum pattilla Solo.....Solo was a total mess.

[maryland]

thanks...

[Tigerbasskool]

u said it.....good review ....thx

[wayanadan]

thanxxxxxxx

[Cinema Freaken]

Thanxx Bhai!!