Remakes make some aspects easier for the director. The story has
already been tried and tested(with success I assume since its only
the hits that are usually remade). The script and the screenplay are
also available readymade. But the director should not be carried away
by these and present, what seems like, a dubbing of the
original but with a different cast. Care need to be taken to make
sure that the characters and sequences fit into the culture that
the movie is being targeted for. Director Rajkapoor seems to
have forgotten the latter need. His Sudhandhiram is a
frame-by-frame remake of the Aamir Khan starrer Ghulam
and loses a lot of its effectiveness due to the loss of
nativity in the translation.
Vishwa(Arjun) is a goonda and an aspiring boxing champion. He
does the typical goonda jobs(like scaring a batsman of the
local cricket club to make sure he becomes out) for
Sopraj(Sharad Saxena), the local dada. He is usually bailed out
by a lawyer(Radhika), who believes that there is still good
in him and he just needs to be given another chance. Sopraj is
aiming to
build a colony in the area after vacating the people already
living there. Vishwa's brother Raghu(Raghuvaran), is an
accountant on Sopraj's payroll. Love blossoms between Vishwa
and Divya(Rambha), the girlfriend of the head of a local gang.
When a social worker Vikram(Ranjit) intrudes in the affairs of
Sopraj, he asks Vishwa to bring Vikram to him. Vishwa does so
thinking that Sopraj is just going to talk some sense into him
but Sopraj brutally kills him instead. This makes Vishwa turn
over a new leaf. Though his love for his brother prevents him
initially, he finally decides to turn approver against Sopraj.
One of the higlights of the movie is the stunt that Arjun and
Babloo perform in front of a speeding train. It involves running
towards the train and then jumping off at the last minute and
is very well executed. If Arjun performed the stunt himself he
definitely deserves a pat on the back (even if graphics have
been used, they have been done seamlessly). But this whole sequence
is also where the lack of nativity is most obvious. A gang of
leather-clad guys on bikes, with a leader who sets records by
running in front of trains, just doesn't fit into the tamil milieu.
The two flashbacks raise more questions than answers. Arjun's flashback
of how is father died (Director Rajkapoor, who also appeared in
Ezhaiyin Sirippil , has a brief cameo
during this segment) reveals that his father betrayed some of his
friends during the freedom struggle. But Arjun still walks around
repeating what his father taught him. Raghuvaran's contradicting
appraisal of their father seems more right. The other flashback shows
that Radhika also has her own axe to grind against the dada. But once
again, it is unclear why she never went to court for him killing her
sister. Especially since Radhika herself is a lawyer.
Credit must be given for an uplifting climax. The usual ending for movies
of this kind tends to be the hero taking the law into his own hands and
mowing down all the bad guys. The climactic fight here too has all the
usual ingredients. The hero gets battered initially and then reinvigorates
himself before bashing the villain. The villain too falls down only to get
up once the hero has let down his guard. But the ending itself is sensible
and provides a more permanent solution to the problem facing the people.
Vivek and Vaiyapuri provide their share of laughs in a separate comedy
track which has Vivek playing a goonda named Surfraj. There is
an explosive scene where a Kerala girl reveals her name and
Vivek interprets it in tamil and other encounters (like their
bullying of the shopkeeper) manage to evoke laughs too. But
their dance with Alphonso could have been avoided.
Arjun is fine as the goonda though his monologue during the
climax, where he shouts at Saxena and provokes him to come out,
could have been delivered with more emotion. The action king
is given more oppurtunity than in Mudhalvan
for stunts and fights impressively. He is also on the receiving end
during the boxing match and the make-up man deserves mention for
Arjun's bloodied face after the fight. Rambha provides
the usual oomph. Raghuvaran underplays his role with dignity
as usual while Sharad Saxena is suitably ruthless as Sopraj. After
her sharp-tongued roles in Jeans and Taj
Mahal, Radhika has the chance to play a more dignified role here.
But that also reduces the oppurtunity for histrionics. Neena has a
brief cameo as Radhika's sister. The songs are quite unlike the usual
melodious fare from S.A.Rajkumar but are easy on the ears.
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