Movie Review: 'Puli' suffers from a weak script and uninspired narration
The first half moves at a leisurely pace with hardly anything coming up by way of story
Cast: Vijay, Sridevi, Hansika, Shruti Haasan, Sudheep
Direction: Chimbu Devan
Rating: 2 ½ stars
After facing last minute hiccups Vijay’s big budget extravaganza Puli got released today worldwide. With a huge star cast, lavish production values, rich visuals, high quality VFX and the kind of hype and hoopla created for this fantasy adventure drama which is a rare genre in Tamil cinema, has Puli lived up to the expectations? To some extent yes!
On paper, the fantasy elements created by director Chimbu Devan might have looked thought provoking. But with a wafer thin plot, Chimbu could not do much and hence it shows in the narrative efficiency.
Puli is set in the backdrop of a fantasy kingdom Vedhala Desam ruled by magician queen Yuavana Rani (Sridevi Boney Kapoor) who is controlled by the evil commander-in-chief Jaladharangan (Sudheep). His team of warriors is called Vedhalams and they have super human powers, using which they control the surrounding villages and treat their inhabitants as slaves.
Meanwhile, Marudheeran (Vijay) who lives in one of the villages is a happy go lucky guy who is brought up by his foster father (Prabhu). He marries his love interest Pavala Malli (Shruti Haasan), daughter of the village chieftain (Aadukalam Naren).
On the day of their marriage, army men from Vedhala Kottai kidnap Pavala Malli and kills Marudheeran’s father. Now starts the fantasy journey for Marudheeran who travels to Vedhala Kottai in disguise as a vedhalam to rescue his beloved Pavala Malli. With the help of fantasy creatures like a giant tortoise, talking bird, Lilliput etc, he reaches the Vedhala kingdom. He impresses Yavana with his bravado and the latter even announces the marriage of her daughter Mandhakini (Hansika) to him much to the displeasure of Jaladharangan. How Vijay takes on the evil force of ‘Vedhalangal’ and saves not only his wife but also his people forms the rest.
With his youthful and explosive personality Vijay who plays a dual role of a father (brief role) and son delivers big time. The actor as usual stuns us with his energetic stunts and dance routines. There’s hardly any role for both the lead ladies Hansika and Shruti and they are used as eye-candies who groove with Vijay in a couple of. The romantic track between Vijay and Shruti looks unnatural. Sridevi, who makes a comeback to Tamil cinema after more than two decades, fits the role perfectly and has given a decent performance. Sudheep’s intro scene was awesome. He proves his versatility in a role with grey shades although it is a predictable one. Supporting actors like Prabhu, Thambi Ramaiah are just about adequate. Comedy works only in parts and Chimbu could have avoided double entendres.
Technically, the film is superb! Natraj’s cinematography is topnotch and perfectly transforms Chimbu Devan’s imagination on screen. His visuals elevate the feel of the movie. Muthraj’s artwork and set designs are commendable. Kamalakannan’s VFX and CG shots warrants mention and are high quality. Devi Sri Prasad’s music is passable. The first half moves at a leisurely pace with hardly anything coming up by way of story. Although post interval it picks up momentum, Puli suffers from a weak script and uninspired narration. Watchable once!