Thaandavam - Movie Review

It was alright when UTV boasted about "Deiva Thirumagal" for making a beautiful film and the very reason is the movie was a good one despite the whole idea was copied from "I am Sam" and not give any kind of credit anywhere. Honestly there are only very very few actors in India who could pull it off what Vikram did in Deiva Thirumagal and he alone solaced all the plagiarism associated with it. Anyways, the reason for me to mention about Deiva Thirumagal was that the very same team has joined hands for Thaandavam as well. I have always had my doubts on Director Vijay since he has yet to come up with a convincing original story/screenplay. I believed he has established himself in the industry and he will deliver in Thaandavam with his original script and that made me sit up when this movie was launched. Then the news like "plagiarism accusations from an assistant director", "the producers sending the original DVD from where the movie is copied from" etc. reduced the expectations.

The movie starts off in London with slower narration and i really didn't have problem with the pace of the movie as many mentioned. However, the content and screenplay lets down and far from engaging. It was too late before the movie enters into its best portion(flashback and scenes between Vikram and Anushka) and it always a tough game to bring back the audience. The thrill/suspense factor is missing and the plot it is very predictable. Jagapathi Babu's role is not interesting and he didn't make any difference. Surprisingly even Santhanam couldn't score much and not in his usual best. Amy Jackson looks pretty but doesnt fit well in the movie.There were some good moments but the movie has many flaws and many key scenes were  illogical and unconvincing. Vikram being such a brilliant actor once again let down by his movie selection after Rajapaatai. However, i admire him for his penchant for picking up different genres of movies. Anushka is very good and apt.

Yes movie was well shot mostly and just because the story happens in London didn't make any interesting. The best part of the movie is flashback episode in village especially the romantic scenes between Vikram and Anushka. GV Prakash music is fine. Couple of songs were really good. Despite the flaws, Thaandavam is much better than Raajapattai and Kandasaamy. Anniyan was the last genuine commercial success for Vikram and he joins again with Shankar for "I" and hope it brings commercial success to the fine actor to experiment films of different genres!!!

Verdict - 3/5