Produced
by- Bayview Projects /Zee Studios / Romeo Pictures
Directed
by –Arunraja Kamaraj
Presented
by-Red Giant Movies
Cast-Udhayanidhi
Stalin, Tanya Ravichandran,Aari Arjunan, Shivani Rajasekhar, Suresh Chakravarthy,
Ilavarasu etc
Censor
Rating- U/A
Running
Time-138 Minutes
Rating
-***
A
remake of Anubhav Sinha’s 2019 film, Article 15 (which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex or birthplace) that had Ayushmann Khurrana as the protagonist
hailing from an upper caste who takes up the cause of caste based inequalities and
crusades for the sake of lower castes who suffer severely owing to caste based
discrimination especially in rural belts.
As
Udhayanidhi Stalin reprises Ayushmann’s role here, maybe with a view to play it
safe, the filmmaker has showcased his character as one who doesn’t fit into the
classification or categorization of belonging to a particular caste!
As
far as Udhayanidhi Stalin is concerned, it is indeed a milestone film in his
brief stint as a hero, doing either romantic or light-hearted roles most of the
time! Had he emoted a bit more, it would been more delightful to watch him go
about his powerfully etched our character to a better degree!
But
his back story -a foreign educated youth returning home to take over as an
Assistant Superintendent of Police –is less convincing as also his ‘connect’
with Tanya Ravichandran as a gender-equality activist!
While
the backdrop setting in the Hindi original was in a fictional village in U.P.,
here it is set in a village in Pollachi where caste discrimination is prevalent!
Aari
Arjunan’s character as Kumaran, a revolutionary who stiffly opposes caste-based
discrimination but it is definitely underwritten, probably not wanting the
viewers to draw parallels with that of the protagonist’s!
The creation of the character of Suresh Chakravarthy
as the caste-conscious Circle Inspector seems to hold some agenda underneath! He
speaks in normal dialect and accent under normal circumstances but whenever he
has to mouth words that are not in the line of his duty, he speaks with an
accent in a dialect that is characteristic of the community that he is supposed
to represent in the film!
Three
young girls in their teens go missing, with two of them found hanging, out in
the public while the whereabouts of the third one remaining a mystery but the
matter is projected as though it is a routine case! There is pressure from the
higher-ups to close the case but ASP Vijayaraghavan (Udhayanidhi Stalin) doesn’t
get bogged down by all that and decided to dig deep even if it means a
suspension from duty following inference from the CBI!
How
the truth comes to surface and the culprits are brought before the book
accounts for the predictable balance of narration.
Needless
to mention, the title has evidently been borrowed from the autobiography of the
Late Sri. M.Karunanidhi.
Dhibu
Ninan Thomas’s background score and the rare angles of Dinesh Krishnan, the
cinematographer, warrant mention.
The
film’s dialogue writer deserves kudos-
Sample
this – ‘If all are equal, then who will be King?’
‘The
one who thinks all are equal!’
Yet
another scene demanding definite mention is when the protagonist surrounded by
his cop-colleagues, discusses and deliberates on caste based classification of
human beings paving way for discrimination!
A though provoking investigative drama that is certainly worth a watch leaving behind some points to ponder!
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