Vithagan Genre: Action Director: Parthiepan Cast: Partheipan, Poorna, Milind Soman Rating:
Genre: Action
Director: Parthiepan
Cast: Partheipan, Poorna, Milind Soman
Rating: 
Review - Vithagan (With-a-gun) , the gun could have been sharper.
Very few actors manage to retain their positions in spite of some flops in their list and Parthiban has been striding on successful paths for 25 years. ‘Viththagan’, his 50thmovie marked his comeback and he has managed to make it happen impressing his fans.
Seventh Channel Communications Producer Manickam Narayanan had released the film with minimum prints, but the opening day has registered decent crowd in theatres.
With reviews turning to be favorable for the film, it is expected that Viththagan will surely make a good show as it proceeds into next week.
Parthiepan's 50! A milestone in the career of the writer-director-actor and each frame ofVithagan(U/A) stands testimony to his toil. From the title scroll and tagline to wit and word power everything is typically Parthiepan.
As far as our films go, nothing sells like cop stories. If Seventh Channel'sVaettaiyaadu Vilaiyaaduexemplified it, theirVithaganreiterates it. Added to the ever popular theme is a screenplay that whizzes past with astute twists, and dialogue that draws attention with intelligent innuendos — the first hour and a quarter ofVithaganis very promising, replete with the makings of a winner. Partheipan is undoubtedly a filmmaker who thinks differently. His impressive underplay and fit look are other pluses.
The story ofVithaganisn't new, but Partheipan's treatment is. The premise of hisAbhimanyuthat came out more than a decade ago was somewhat similar. Yet his narration makes a difference.
The bold and straightforward policeman (in the flashback) who makes himself a sitting duck is passé. But when integrity combines with temerity, and acts spell heroism the film is bound to be engaging, as it happens with Rowthiran.
Rowthiran (Parthiepan) is a committed cop, who is unable to tolerate crime and prefers to stem the rot by meting out punishments as he deems fit. His way of functioning isn't justified but none is able to pin him down. But when they do, he finds another way to tackle wrongdoers …
Poorna is a commendable choice — she lingers in your mind long after you leave the hall. Why did they need a Milind Soman for such a run of the mill role? He walks towards the hero very menacingly with a colourful vial and injects it into his neck. You expect a drastic turn of events, in vain! Drugged or otherwise, the hero remains invincible. As deaths happen in dozens a sense of apathy sets in. Most of the villains inVithaganare clichés. A worthy break for Sampath Ram, who has been waiting in the wings for long! He plays Parthiepan's father.
After projecting himself as a thinking policeman, Rowthiran's reaction to his senior's accusation suddenly turns commonplace! He easily falls into the trap laid out for him and lands in jail. It is at this point that the delineation of the character takes a beating. And what follows is not as riveting as what you watched till then.
The problem with the sharp dialogue is that the heroine, the comedians and a few others are as quick witted as the hero that repartees sound contrived after a point.
Editing (Antony), which crisply tells you the motive behind every action, is a highpoint. The cuts to the past very cleverly juxtapose the present — and by not showing the face of the much younger Partheipan who returns home after joining the police force, the maker avoids an awkward attempt to look younger!
Joshua Sridhar proves his potential again — ‘Ikkudhae' is an aural treat. And shot beautifully in incredibly exotic locations, it is visual splendour! Incidentally, Parthiepan turns lyricist for the film and does a creditable job of it — as is his wont, quaint mixed metaphors find a place in the songs too. RR in certain scenes makes you sit up and take notice. The set for crucial scenes on a high rise have been tastefully done — plaudits to Vijayamurugan!
A few negatives notwithstanding, Parthiepan's half century mark warrants attention.
Storyline:A sincere cop, a bloody flashback and the aftermath
Bottomline:Vendetta, Vithagan style!
Review 2:
Vithgan is a silly movie
The best part about Radhakrishnan Parthiban's (as he's now styling himself) latest venture, Vithagan, is that the head-villain spouts dialogues in praise of the hero, right at the moment of his death. After being shot at point-blank range in the head.
The Seventh Channel Communications' production, which has also been written and directed by Parthiban, manages to switch between the narrative styles of Gautam Menon, Selvaraghavan, Mani Ratnam et al, and ends up being incredibly bad.
The movie comes with the tagline 'With a Gun' -- a play on the title -- and justifies it too: everyone and anyone runs around with a gun, pointing it stylishly, clothes fluttering in the air. There's absolutely no regard for logic, rationale, or even a single brain-cell; you're in this for Parthiban's pithy one-liners (of which there are quite a few), and that's pretty much it.
The hero sees himself as an appealing mixture of Rajni/Vijay/Ajith/Surya, and wears shades and hairstyles that remind you of STR. It's sheer agony.
The story itself can be written on the back of a match-box: IPS officer Rowdhiran (Parthiban) is upright, honest, just and dashing. He has a vendetta against a host of bad men, chief among them Badri (Milind Soman), and alienates his superiors. Mercy (Poorna), who works in a call-centre, falls in love with this totally unromantic hero. End of story.
When Parthiban forgets that he's a super-talented actor who can bring Tamil's greatest actors to their knees, his one-liners hit the mark and he does bring a smile to your face. Sadly, that happens only for a few minutes in the film. For the rest of the two-plus hours, he exaggerates every emotion, expression and dialogue so much that it's ridiculous.
Poorna looks pretty and dances in a couple of Joshua Sridhar duets and that pretty much sums up her part in the film. All the villains, Milind Soman included, scream, screech and yell so ineffectually that you wonder how they became such powerful villains in the first place.
M S Prabhu's camera-work and Antony's editing are wasted. But the credit for a truly horrendous screenplay must, undoubtedly, go to Parthiban himself.
Police vendettas have been handled countless times before this, occasionally in excellent fashion, by intelligent directors. In the hands of Parthiban, who exudes such smugness and uses plot-twists that make even Superman seem puny, Vithagan is the epitome of silliness.
Watch only if you have nothing to do on a rainy afternoon--or if you need a few laughs.
Review 3
It is R Parthiban's Show all the way
The film, which has been in making since 2008, has finally released today. 'Vithagan', which also happens to be the 50th film of Parthipan, has him in the role of a police officer, who is brainy as well as brawny.
Story
R Parthiban as Rowthiran who intoduces himself as a sincere and strict police officer faces many problems. Poorna as Mary meets Rowthiran at a social welfare cause that is conducted in the church. Soon they fall in Love and get married. At one point he comes across through a situation where little children who are orphaned are tortured by anti-social elements to gain money. Rowthiran enters into the problem and warns the baddies, but they don't giver ear to his emotions.
Soon a sad incident happens and Rowthiran who stayed as a honest police officer regrets for being so. That's when Rowthiran takes law in his own hands, till now he stood as a cop with emotions. But he feels that is not going to change anything. So he plans to play cleverly to defeat the criminals. So he uses his witty plans and actions against them which makes the criminals suffer. Then how he overtakes the evil with his brains forms a crucial climax.
Performance
R Parthiban has returned with a bang. His perfomance as the witty and clever police officer brings the audience to a laugh riot. Poorna as Mary has done her part well. Music by Joshua Sridar is an added advantage to the movie. The Bgm is really pleasant and good. Also other roles in the movie are also given apt importance to score.
Technicalities
The making of Vithagan is really good. Cinematography has been handled well, locations are well organised. Editing by Antony gives the movie a racy feel. Screenplay of the movie is innovative which is an added advantage, it doesn't leave the audience to boredom at any stage.
Analysis
The Movie begins with usual cop kind of story, but soon it takes lots of twists and gives a fresh feel. Also even the first half may look slower, the second half is pumped up. So R Parthiban who has released the movie with less competitions is sure to steal the audience by his narration style.
Review 4
Maker of finest showpieces is back now with ‘Viththagan’. Perhaps, lots of scrutinizing efforts were involved into the making as Parthiban incisively wanted to this film to be as special as it marks his Golden Jubilee. The actor’s role as a cop isn’t something new for us. We have already witnessed his outstanding performance in the same role (Ulle Veliye). But Parthiban had clearly mentioned that ‘Viththagan’ wouldn’t be in the same shades, but with difference.
Produced by Seventh Channel Manickam Narayanan, Parthiban gets on penning story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics apart from wielding megaphone.
To be clear and mark the verdicts in simple words, ‘Viththagan’ doesn’t have a fresh script as we have seen hundreds and thousands of movies based on vengeance. In fact we hear it from the baddie Badri (Milind Soman) saying ‘For the past 20-25 years, you heroes have a flashback.’ But the film doesn’t test your patience as Parthiban manages to keep the momentum going at places. Of course, we cannot decide the kismet of this movie at an ease as it needs this weekend to pass, but if you’re need in of our advice, it’s a passable show that can be opted to kill your time.
Don’t expect too much of the actor-director’s previous records and there are chances to enjoy to the film.
Roudran (Parthiban) has a mission that every cop in films has. – To polish off the baddies and bring paradise down here on earth. He goes through hurdles placed by his senior officers, but works smartly bumping off the baddies in his clandestine mission. As a twist in the tale, reasons behind his mission are revealed and his ultimate plan is to seek revenge on Badri (Milind Soman), the mafia kingpin involved in the criminal activities.
Parthiban always sticks to pragmatic style in his portrayals and other characters in the movie. This one doesn’t become an exception, though we have a ‘Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu’ kind of title song with his son shaking legs. But overall, his performance is good and appreciable and his dialogues stand out as one of the highlighting quotients in the movie. Poorna doesn’t have much to perform, but her delineation is good in places. Milind Soman, the stylish villain makes an impressive show, but his henchmen evoking humour on his side is pretty enjoyable, though it trivializes his character.
Musical score by Joshua Sridhar isn’t up to the mark. The music director gave some commendable songs in the past including ‘Malai Varum’ in Veppam. Background score by Sabesh-Murali needs special mention. Cinematography by MS Prabhu is splendid visual treat and Anthony’s crisp editing, especially the juxtaposition of flashback and few other scenes is a good work.
Though the film has a stereotyped storyline, Parthiban manages to keep us hooked onto the screens with his engrossing screenplay.
Overall, the film deserves a watch for its commercial treatment and for Parthiban fans as well.
What works: Parthiban, Milind Soman, Humour, Screenplay,
What doesn’t work: Music, Predictable in few parts.
Verdict: Can watch it once
Review by Richard Mahesh
Vithagan Movie ReviewReviewed by Tamil Studios on
19 Nov 2011.Moderate Opening, Mixed Response.Review - Vithagan (With-a-gun) , the gun could have been sharper.Rating:
19 Nov 2011.Moderate Opening, Mixed Response.Review - Vithagan (With-a-gun) , the gun could have been sharper.Rating:
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