Uttama Villian - Movie review

My Rating - 4/5

You might be surprised to see a Kamalhassan movie releasing without creating hullabaloo. Uttama Villain is no exception for that. I guess handling controversy has become a part and process of his movies nowadays. It might as well be a tricky addition in his promotional activities.

Uttama Villain is yet another classic addition in Tamil cinema with a substantial yet comprehensive plot as well as subplots, amazing star cast and super-amazing performances. It is a kind of movie that induces you to think and comprehend every scene and dialogues and as well relate with our real life experiences. Kamalhassan has a habit of conveying too many things in a single shot without an explicit explanation. Thereby making the audience an opportunity to think, evaluate and realise the inner meaning behind the scene. Intermission shot was one such case where the protagonist Manoranjan looks the dying fish along the boat and also wipes off the blood from his nozzle. It was an intense portrait of life-death conditions.

Alright, here comes the main review. As you know, I review based on four parameters story, screenplay, music and performances. Here we go then..

What makes you stay seated?

The Story is definitely a hero in this film. Manoranchan, a selfish hero, is counting his suffering from cancer. He contrives to execute a full length comedy movie along with his mentor Margadharasi (K Balachandher) as his final wish, for which his family members are against. How he tackles it forms rest of the tale. Brain tumour with the consequences has been portrayed intensely along with an essence of ‘Being Immortal.’ Very strong storyline with a well supported dialogue.

This film holds a strong repository of actors lead in the front Kamal, Balachader, K Vishwanath, Oorvashi, to the supporting actors Andrea, Pooja, Parvathi Menon, Jayaram, Nassar and others. Everyone stood by their standards, coming up with some awe-inspiring performances. Except the hero Manoranjan, no other in this movie has too many dialogues. But they have justified with whatever is given to them. Example, Oorvashi known for her quirky yet witty dialogue deliveries nailed the last few minutes in the movie in the hospital scene. Perhaps, it was the only scene she speaks long enough.

Watch out for these scenes in the movie,

1.     Intermission scene

2.     Manoranjan after performing his final shot as Uttaman

3.     Legendary Balachander’s editing scene

I was really picky about these scenes because it was without any dialogues. Look out for the expression and emotions involved in it. You will experience it instead of merely seeing it.

Music has played a big part in this movie and Gibran has done a fabulous job by defending the burden with his perfect numbers. The karaoke and the background composition embraced with the chronicle, also invigorating it further.

What would have been better?

There was a movie within a movie and hence the screenplay would have been better adding more or less interesting ingredients in the subplot. The optical outcome was a huge let down in the screenplay. The tiger, waterfalls, forest and all other seventh century elements looked evidently like a CG. And in one scene the fruits given to Mutharasan (Nassar) by his mercenaries were typically like a plastic fruit.

The core story supported by the strong dialogues has been let down by lacklustre film making. It may be the inaugural outing for Ramesh Arvind as the director, but considering his experience working with almost all top notch directors, this outcome was not even close to the target. 

My Rating

Story – 4.5/5

Screenplay – 3/5

Performance – 5/5

Music – 3.5/5

Bottomline

Forget the VFX, just enjoy and experience the essence of 'Being Immortal' with some incredible performances.