Bigil Movie review

How often do you go watch a movie and come out of the theatre with a feeling that the money you just spent is worth it? How often do you come out of the theatre with a sense of satisfaction after seeing a movie?

Is Bigil that movie?

Bigil kick starts with a group of people protesting for something. And you know what happens next, right? As usual, Michael Rayyappan (aka Bigil) is the Messiah of the masses. He saves them and is their hero. Although the scenes are predictable, Yogi babu’s timely one-liners and Vijay’s screen presence makes it appealing to watch. There are also a few references to some films from the past and the audience would definitely love those.

Being a football player and the Nation’s Pride, for some reason, Bigil becomes the coach of a Women’s Football team. How and why he becomes the coach forms the crux of the story and what happens next forms the plot.

Take a look at Atlee’s past works. Raja Rani, Theri and Mersal. Although all these films have different storylines, the one common thing would be the Screenplay. Racy and fast is what the audience would describe them. In comparison, Bigil is a major let down with respect to the screenplay. There are certain scenes that Atlee has placed to quench the fans’ thirst. However, the first half would have been much better had the movie been trimmed down by 10 minutes or so.

On the acting front, Vijay is the showstopper with his impeccable screen presence. He gives a new character to any role he portrays and in Bigil too, Vijay is unstoppable.

Nayanthara, Kathir, Yogi Babu, Vivek, Indhuja and the other football girls (Bigil Girls) have done justice to their part. One would feel all their characters have very little characterization. Honestly, Atlee could have used their caliber to a greater extent.

Coming into the plot, it is a usual sports drama with a tinge of revenge. The whole film revolves around football and Atlee has definitely done some crazy amount of research about the sport before filming the football sequences. The movie has a very predictable ending, but the Atlee way of storytelling is what keeps the film going in the second half.

Rayappan (Some people spell it Royappan, but that’s kinda weird), is unarguably the best character in the movie. Vijay has focussed on the mannerisms of Rayappan to the most acute levels – the walk, the smile, the accent and everything else. The portions between Rayappan and Bigil are cute and enjoyable. The only negative about Rayappan is that he tends to overact at times and that prevents Rayappan from becoming a Milestone in Vijay’s acting career.

The football sequences were touted to be the USPs of the movie. However, Atlee seems to have overshot these portions. They’re very unrealistic and at times, the scenes might make you wanna ask yourself, “Is this Bigil or Shaolin Soccer?” The matches too, end up becoming quite predictable as the movie goes forward.

Jackie Shroff and Daniel Balaji both play the antagonists. Daniel Balaji who’s an astonishing performer has given a crisp performance. Jackie Shroff, on the other hand, has not been utilized to his fullest. He is one of Bollywood’s finest actors and to bring him down south and not utilize his potential is a bit sad.

Although with quite some negatives, Bigil deserves a special mention for a few things. The picturization of ‘Verithanam‘. It is a class apart. The lighting, costumes and the backdrop with AR Rahman’s music would definitely make you wanna go dance with your Pullingow! Absolutely brilliant work by the art director and the cinematographer in bringing out the song, with some amazing performances by the whole team. Vijay’s moves and expressions would make you love him even more.

AR Rahman and GK Vishnu are two people who deserve special mention. Each and every shot has been taken with the utmost care. Vishnu’s frames and ARR’s BGM act as a major plus point to Vijay’s screen presence. Fans can be spotted going wild inside the theatre as ARR tops the game with his electrifying music. He is a musical genius and he proves that right with each and every film.

As seen in the trailer, Bigil is about the struggles women face and their empowerment. Singapenney and Maadhare are songs that are rightly placed which induce a sense of emotion amidst the audience. There are some fierce dialogues in the movie which any person irrespective of their gender can take up as motivation.

Bigil is a mix of sports, emotion, action, romance and drama with commercial elements overloaded. Some predictable and cliche scenes induce a sense of disappointment and thus, Bigil settles for an above-average Kollywood movie.

Watch the trailer here.

Also remember, stop piracy.