R ARIVANANTHAM
In Tamil Nadu, politics and cinema are two sides of a coin. While politicians – former chief minister Dr CN Annadurai and Dr Kalaingar M Karunanidhi-deftly used it to capture the ‘Fort’, former chief ministers Dr MGR, Dr Jayalalithaa were able to rule the roost on their cinema popularity. While actor Captain Vijaykanth could make it partial success, Nadigar Thilagam Shivaji Ganesan, Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan, and Sarathkumar failed miserable to cash in on their popularity. Director Seeman of NTK is still a force to reckon with in the Dravidian land. After dilly-dallying for quite some time, Superstar Rajnikanth backed out from taking political plunge.
Velu & Dhanalakshmi from the GOAT universe💥
All centre hit.. Enga vandhu yaaru kitta 🔥#MegaBlockbusterGOAT@actorvijay Sir
A @vp_offl Hero
A @thisisysr Magical #TheGreatestOfAllTime#KalpathiSAghoram#KalpathiSGanesh#KalpathiSSuresh @Ags_production@archanakalpathi… pic.twitter.com/Db9ZII4qD7— AGS Entertainment (@Ags_production) September 7, 2024
Having tasted some success in the local body polls and some groundwork of social activities for students, youth and women, Thalapathy Vijay has launched TMK (Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam) to take on the mighty Dravidian parties – DMK & AIADMK – in the ensuing Assembly polls in 2026.
- Aiming to propel Thalapathy Vijay’s image and garner votes, of late all his films are made with the sole objective of unlimited entertainment with correct mix of political messages like transparency, corruption-free good governance
- Savvy Tamil audiences are increasingly choosing films based on content rather than star power
- Director Venkat Prabhu has solely believed in the star power of Thalapathy Vijay as well as the technology- AI and VFX
Aiming to propel Thalapathy Vijay’s image and garner votes, of late all his films are made with the sole objective of unlimited entertainment with correct mix of political messages like transparency, corruption-free good governance. ‘The GOAT’ (The Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.), Vijay’s 68th film, is one such film.
Director Venkat Prabhu has solely believed in the star power of Thalapathy Vijay as well as the technology- AI and VFX. Thus he failed to concentrate on the content of this film and let down the fans. Having delivered flicks like ‘Maanadu, Chennai 600028’ and Ajith-starrer ‘Mankatha’, the director was expected to raise the bar as this was the penultimate film of a Chief Minister aspirant.
Audience’s voice is louder than ever, and it’s calling for change
Savvy Tamil audiences are increasingly choosing films based on content rather than star power. Instead of embracing this new trend of simple stories and innovative storytelling, some established directors and stars continue to rely on tried-and-tested formulas. Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: the audience’s voice is louder than ever, and it’s calling for change.
Thalapathy, Vijay plays father and son roles and it was a delight for his die-hard fans to watch his trademark motions, action scenes and strong screen presence.
What is in a name?
Though we have forgotten the values taught by Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, it is still being invoked to get garner votes as well as to prove that honesty is a precious commodity. In this film senior Vijay named as M.S. Gandhi (a Special Anti-Terrorism Squad agent), with Sunil (Prashanth), (Kalyan) Prabhu Deva and Ajay (Ajmal Ameer) as his gang, and Jayaram as their head, Nazeer, in Delhi. When he is not on a mission, he is a happy-go-lucky husband and father. Things turn tragic for Gandhi when a mission involving an adversary, Rajiv Menon (Mohan), comes back to haunt him while on a holiday with his family in Thailand.
After chasing his enemies in Delhi, Thailand, and Russia, the hero lands in Mecca of Cricket in India – Chennai. Aiming to bowl over his fans, Vijay reaches Chepauk Stadium, where Thalaiva MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings are taking on Mumbai Indians in an IPL match.
The only solace is Thalapathy Vijay as Gandhi and Jeevan does justice to his dual role.
However, the director has failed to keep the first half’s momentum till the end. Hats off to excellent cinematography and the use of AI and VFX to give excellent feast to Thalapathy fans.
Cast
Vijay, Sneha, Mohan, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Yogi Babu and others
Crew
Director: Venkat Prabhu
Written By: K. Chandru, Ezhilarasu Gunasekaran, Venkat Prabhu
Produced By: Kalpathi S. Agoram, Kalpathi S. Ganesh
Director Of Photography: Siddhartha Nuni
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
