This is a movie I am actually curious to see. But I want to watch it with friends, and none of my friends have Prime, so I’m not gonna be able to see it any time soon. And in the meantime, I want y’all to be able to talk about it. So this is your Discussion Space, Spoilers Allowed, Go Wild. And once I do watch it at some point, I will review it.
It’s a Tamil film, so it’s gonna have an Issue, and I guess this time the issue is juvenile detention centers and reform, with Vijay as the teacher who tries to help the boys. But, presumably, in a cool charming fun Vijay way. And then Other Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, is the Big Bad who is using the boys. In presumably a tormented and weirdly sympathetic Vijay Sethupathi kind of way.
Does Vijay give a big long speech at some point about society and reform that feels like it could be part of an imminant run for political office?
Does Vijay Sethupathi look under his eyebrows at someone in a way that is opaque but you want to believe is sympathetic?
Is there a big song number?
Is the love interest boring?
Does it feel like 3 hours or does it feel much shorter than 3 hours?
DISCUSS!
dontcallitbollywood 
I think you can host an Amazon watch party and anyone with the link can join it. They don’t need to have Prime to do so. It’s text chatting only on the watch party, so you won’t be able to see faces unless you have a parallel Zoom going or something. I just watched Master that way with a friend in Canada. It was fun!
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I’ve tried 😦 Amazon makes you sign in even if you have the link.
Anyway, I will definitely watch it at SOME point, maybe as soon as next week as a one on one with a friend who does have it, I just don’t want to make y’all wait.
Also, I checked and it is playing at a theater near me and I am SO TEMPTED because it seems like such an epic theatrical film. But no, parents, responsibility, bleh.
Anyway, tell me if Vijay 1 gives a big speech and if Vijay 2 looks delicately under his brows!
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It indeed is a very theatrical film. After having seen the movie I’m not surprised the makers wanted a theatrical release so badly.
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Maybe I can just sit really really close to my TV.
On Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 10:37 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Lol an with volume high. The music is very catchy and makes you wanna dance and whistle.
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Man, that is so unfair!
Confession: I went to see this in the theater. I was the only person sitting in the whole middle section of the theater, and there were about 30 desis all way in the back. It was a touch free experience, other than the door handle to get in/out, fixtures in the bathroom, and of course sitting in the seat. But yeah, still a risk for sure. It was my first chance to see VSP in a theater since becoming a fan and I couldn’t resist! VSP got almost as many whistles, laughs, and whoops as Vijay–made me so happy! 🙂
This is a mass movie, fun but not connected to reality. Great to see in the theater, but it was fun on the small screen too.
Vijay is less Vijay, more actor, but it is still a star vehicle. So yeah, he made some speeches, but they were smaller and shorter, I guess?
There is nothing delicate or sympathetic about Sethu’s performance. He is basically a demon in human form, and he is clearly having a blast playing the character. As many have said, I enjoyed the way the story was balanced and parallel between the villain and hero, and how they don’t meet until 2/3 of the way through the film.
The songs are big and fun; the love interest is so boring, but thankfully not around much. The boys/young men are a delight to watch–good uns and bad uns.
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Love interest is close to negligible! And songs are catchy and dance oriented…both heroes have superb screen presence,love their introduction scenes and fight scenes (full on tamil style whistle inducing) however i do wish the ladies had a bigger and more meaningful role in this movie!
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Oh man this sounds so great!!!! I may need to dig up a friend who has Prime just to watch it with me.
On Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 10:39 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Well i am slightly biased as i luvvvvvv both vijays…but yes a neutral person may hav a different opinion,its definitely not either of the vijays’ best movie!
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Yeah, the women could be cut from the film and there wouldn’t be a big difference. But IMO it’s a good thing because Malavika is so bad. She hardly does this little she has to do. I don’t want her to have a bigger role.
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Lol yes…she was gud in ‘beyond the clouds’ ,she was super weird in this one though
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To be fair, the love interest does set things in motion for the Vijays to meet so there’s that. But beyond that, she’s not that important to the film. This was just such fun to watch though! I usually watch Vijay movies with my friend – its our thing. We did a watch party to see this and had a blast.
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Had to come back and say that Gouri Kishan (young Jaanu from 96!) did a good job with a small role. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.
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Spoiler:
Am I the only one who thought that Vijay will be stabbed in the back by Das after the final fight? He leaves the room after the fight and turns back and I was 100% sure Das will be there to kill him and steal all VJS empire.
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I really can’t add much. Both Vijays are fantastic, the music bangs, the heroine is boring.The film is slow on the get-go but builds to a great finish and not too dark considering the subject. Yes, Thalapathy talked too much and Sethupathy who is the most nuanced of actors, went full-out. I thought, since so much time is spent on his miserable childhood, that we were supposed to get glimpses of a villain’s underlying humanity. Setghupathy could have really carried that off, generated sympathy for his character then let us watch it slowly drain away. I’d like to see more from Arjun Das; wonder if he can carry a non-negative role. Some confusing twists (subtitles disappeared in a blink), Thalapathy Vijay recovers too quickly from murderous beatings, and I didn’t like that he went to prison in the end. Is there a jailbreak sequel in the offing?The part I really liked was when he’d had enough and hoists Sethupathy on the meat hook.
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Vijay went to prison at the end of Mersal too, maybe it is his thing?
On Tue, Feb 2, 2021 at 10:21 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The director’s last film was Kaithi – prisoner. I figured it was a little easter egg to that.
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Finally someone else appreciates Arjun Das. I liked him a lot, what a voice! I started watching his other movie – Andhaghaaram right after Master, but have seen only the beggining so far.
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Arjun Das was great in this! I just can’t quite believe anyone actually thought he was younger than 18 though!
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Finished this over the weekend and I found it fun and satisfying even though the plot is pretty heavy handed. The supporting cast was great, though. I didn’t mind Malavika, I thought she was gorgeous and did fine in her role. The role itself was weird, the way she comes into the story was an awkward bit of scripting. And calling her a love interest is a stretch, coworker would be more accurate. There is zero romance in the movie.
Good Vijay’s best speech was at the start when he defends the rights of students to hold elections. There was this nuanced, well reasoned argument for learning democracy in a safe setting where adults can set guardrails. He does have more speeches later about the boys in detention being given up for lost, but it’s not as convincing. Made me wonder where the screenwriters were coming from.
Good Vijay also has a weird backstory. There’s this whole mystery built up for the first half about why he’s a depressed insomniac alcoholic, then Malavika just goes and asks the guy who knows and it turns out something something sad upbringing then his beloved master died and he was never the same. 30 seconds of dialogue. Maybe the subtitles were off because that was a wait whut moment for me.
Vijay Sethupathi does solid glowering but I agree with Maria, they missed a chance to give him more shades of gray, a reason besides money and drugs that Das and the other boys would do anything for him. Also his fight scenes were less fun, maybe not his thing? They gave his character the superpower of the punch that kills, which means he doesn’t have to do much. Good Vijay got the fun fight scenes where the bad guys are duped by his clean image and then he breaks out the push kicks and haymakers. The climax, now, involved him picking bad Vijay up and tossing him above his head, which would be impossible even if it didn’t come after getting beat on for several minutes, because physics. But why quarrel with the details.
Here’s the thing I’ve kept thinking about. The film sets up a moral universe where addiction is bad – bad Vijay uses drugs to control the boys, and good Vijay has to stop drinking before he can help them. Using children is bad, especially if you’re keeping them ensnared in a life of crime instead of giving them opportunities to learn and grow and go back to their families. The ultimate mission for good Vijay is to use his hero qualities and experience with the students to stand up for the boys against everyone who has written them off as destined for a life of crime. And then in the end…he gets several of his student acolytes hurt or killed, and Das and the other too old for juvie boys sent to jail, and himself sent to jail to take bad Vijay’s place as their leader. How is this a happy hero ending? How is the ending not good Vijay turning into bad Vijay?
The songs though. So good. I listened to the jukebox four times over this afternoon, and this is my new heavy rotation song.
Love the happy/sad feeling, feels right.
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