The product of southern spice in
northern dish raked 21 crores in the opening weekend. It’s a welcome change for good old cute n
innocent love stories and path block for all those copy cat bollywood action
movies, Xeroxed from south.
Here, the canvas showcases the real
scent of Varanasi and its Launde. Superb
performances of four key characters (not stars) hold the momentum till the end
with prominent support from other supporting cast. Though the second half
appears unreal in pace but the emotions are real and revenge is logical.
Dhanush cannot ask for more for a
debut in bollywood. He is effortlessly a Launda in Varanasi, post few reels you
cannot imagine any other actor/star in his shoes. Sonam has come up with
spontaneous performance of her career so far. Abhay Deol is impressive as usual
but lacks the punch in his character due to length and plot. Rest, the emotions
are so real on the faces that you realize you are actually watching a theatre
play. The back ground score and the narration is apt to the characters moving
on celluloid. You get all the answers that, why Anand L Rai chose Dhanush as
main protagonist and why he accepted it, why the director has opted for Rehman
and why you are watching a moving in which hero is less than 5 feet and looks
so ordinary. The caste is spot on. The
director gave a statement recently to a leading national daily that “He
connects to the actors personally and he is possessive about them”, which is
very true. He extracted intensity out of almost all the actors including Swara.
At least this movie carries a strong
point back home that a hero need not to be six feet height with those six packs
and biceps. Particularly he can be from any “wood”. The language is so real
that you hear plenty of claps and cheers to a Hindi speaking Tamilian. The
movie carries the pain and the elevation as we have seen in Ranbir’s Rockstar.
However fail to end high on very high note. But the few closing lines of the
main protagonist leaves an impression on your face till you are reached parking
lot.
This is “as Lambi as Ganga kinaraaaa”. Go cherish the Taste of Varanasi.
.............Venky
