After loads and loads of promotion, hype and hoopla Raju Bhai is here in the town and goes of Bang Bang Bang through the movie with Lingusamy’s masala topped storyline. Commercial cinema in India is something that pulls any level of audience for its entertainment content, and post Run Lingusamy is one of the directors who mastered the art. Anjaan slashes the director’s signature all over the movie with an array of the star cast spearheaded by Suriya. Let’s take a close look on what the movie is all about.
The Story & Direction: 20 years before the action and revenge were two sides of a coin, something which the crowd enjoyed. Lingusamy’s Anjaan falls 20 years short, barring the style quotient, cinematography and music. A handicapped brother who comes to town with a determination to find his brother, only to find out that the brother is one of the powerful dons in Mumbai. The director stresses on the key element of Anjaan the friendship of “Raju – Chandru”, aka Suriya – Vidyut. With this as the base, he capitalizes on the other elements of love, action and revenge.
Cinematography: Santhosh Sivan’s clinical cinematography! Through the rugged streets to some color topped song sequences this movie is a lesson for budding cinematographers. The bird catching its prey, the action sequences show’s how much attention to detail is given, hats off!
Music: The next bang is for our Yuvan, who delivers a BGM that revives the dull screenplay. The experimentation has paved out well with sirens and distant echoes dances to the situation. Two of the songs dwell well in the
Cast: Suriya shoulders the movie quite efficiently amidst the lengthy cast. The thing about Suriya is that, give him any character and he quietly mushes into the character professionally. The title does justice to Suriya’s vicious looks and he stuns in every aspect. Vidyut’s inclusion comes as a surprise and as usual, he is suave and should send whistles from his female fans. Samantha’s gorgeous looks and a dose of glamour should definitely go down well. The Rest of the cast appears alien, Manoj as villain has the menacing looks, but appears stereotypical.
Stunts & Costume: The costume selection deserves special mention, starting from Suriya, Samantha, Vidyut to Manoj they all look cool and apt. The stereotyped mafia/don is someone who we see in Armani toned attire, a puff of cigar and is surrounded by a henchman. However, he breaks free as a casual dude, thanks to the work behind the lens. Another plus is the stunt choreography by Stunt Silva ravishes what requires for an action movie with loads of fights structured well. The pre interval fight sequence is one good example of how things should be done.
Screenplay & Dialogue: The Holy Grail of Anjaan is around Raju and Chandru’s friendship, something that requires heavy alteration. A movie that predominantly lingers on Revenge needs kick, pain and reasoning. Anjaan has all these elements, however, the screenplay lacks the punch in delivering them. The overwhelming mass factor has blinded the makers in showing the adhesive bond between the friends which is the key element. Lip Sync, lack of Kollywood actors makes the dialogue delivery look artificial and appear haywire.
Letdowns : In the age of variety its amusing to see the kind of henchmen clad in suits, kidnapping the heroine to a broken brickland, repetitive dialogues, monotonous threats, stereotypical villains, abrupt song placements and why Soori? Why Bramanandam?, and finally the length. Looking back at the film, Lingusamy has a lot in store to take back as his homework, for the movie fails to impress you as a whole.
To sum up, Anjaan would be in the list of movies that could have been etched better. Barring a few twists and turns, does entertain Suriya fans to an extent and leaves out the rest.
Verditct : A commercial entertainer might not go beyond Suriya's fan base!
Stars : 2.50
