User reviews

Was disappointed seeing this movie after getting a lot of positive responses. Nirav's work was a visual treat, I must say. The comedy is good too. Every film lover is aware of Mario Puzo's Godfather and every Indian must be aware of Mani Ratnam's Nayagan and Thevar Magan. Not another inspiration of these movies. Still I don't find the logic of super-heroism in almost every Indian movie's protagonist. Vijay's character in this movie is no exception to this (like how a dancer can suddenly fight and tear down a whole rival gang and become a leader with no fight history). Was laughing when Vijay's character was called "Neenga", "Vaanga", "poonga" by people much older to him. The movie may be good or even better, if you're a Vijay's fan or not a regular viewer of classy movies.

A.L.vijay started the narration with stating many great leaders of the world. And in the next 10 minutes,our brain knows the total script of the movie. Next,screenplay is the only area of concern for A.L.vijay. He handles with care in the first half but will be losing his plot in the later half. Vijay-Santhanam combo worked again with a quality leg shake makes the first half worth. Excellent cinematography! A.L.vijay confusion starts here. Slow screenplay make us to feel bore except some instant relief. The difficulty in handling the script(DON) like this is criticism will be higher unless it is perfect. G.V.Prakash work can be half-praised. Editing should be justified since it is a lengthy movie. A good one for vijay since he shows some maturity in acting. Overall, it is an old movie with some new ingredients.

This review was written by my friend a 'neutral fan' from u.a.e DEAR TAMIL CINEMA FANS, well THALAIVAA is an entertaining and commercial film. First we have a look to the cast and crew. CAST Vijay: As usual stunning performance and mind blowing dance movements. His dialog delivery, hum-our sense, expressions and body language is-so classy and stunning. Even he has done his path in the film very well. He is now on the pathway to mega success and another STUNNING HIT from VJ which follows the success of KAAVALAN,VELAYUTHAM,NANBAN AND THUPAKKI. Amala Paul – well another leading heroin. She has done her path excellent in the film as the directors guidance. Well her character has a good scope but the role doesn't gave a chance to Amala Paul to give deep performance. The chemistry has worked well with VJ . Santhanam – Santhanam is a compulsory brand in most of the film. His jokes worked out well in the film. He didn't failed of giving on perfect timing jokes. His performance was a great support to bring the film into the entertaining structure. Vijay to Santhanam combo has worked out well. Sathyaraj - Puratchi Thamizhan Sathyaraj has slowly but surely carved a niche for himself as a character actor, after having donned numerous successful roles as a villain and a lead hero. Some of the prominent character roles that he has done in the recent past include the ones in Nanban and the Telugu movie Mirchi. He also had done a main role in Chennai express. Well his role in Thalaivaa is really classy and has unique style on it. Once again the wave length between Vijay and Sathyaraj has exposed and functioned well after the mega success Nanban. THE REST OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM IS SO PROMISING AND DONE THEIR PART AS STRUCTURED BY THE DIRECTOR. CREW CAMERA – Nirav shah.. really a artistic cinematographer. You may know his excellent works in many films he did before such as MADRASAPATTINAM, VAANAM, ENGEYUM KADHAL, THAANDAVAM,DEIVA THIRUMAGAL, AND MORE. This film his camera magic has bring the audience a wonderful visuals and the tone of the suites the story and convey it through his visual to the audience. Editor – ANTHONY…Everyone know him for his excellence in editing and one of the leading and top editor in the Indian cinema industry. So no review on editing because he has done a great job. Music – GV.PRAKASH…HIS magic in music worked will with the audience. The music is so catchy and the background music for the film rocks. Gv you had done a good job and he didn't disappoint the audience in the music segment. Even the music helped the screenplay to move on to the next level. He also done a guest appearance in a song titled 'VANGANNA VANNAKAMANA'. DIRECTOR – Vijay is well known for his excellent films like Kireedam, Madrasapattinam, Deivathirumagaland Thaandavam. All the film is a great film and made a huge success in the box office and even touched the hearts of the audience. The same magic has done by AL.VIJAY in Thalaivaa by making the audience to immerse in the storyline and enjoy the film.He had done his role perfectly without any dragging in the screenplay or unwanted scenes and dialogs in the film. The film will be full and full entertainment and commercial based. Well it doesn't have any elements such describing the politicians, political orientated storyline or criticizing anyone. It actually conveying the awareness of humanity which humans need to bare in mind and the good and awesome relationship between various religion,caste and culture people India. It also shows how they being united as Indian and their understanding on each other.

Rating:4.5/5.

This review was written by my friend a 'neutral fan' from u.a.e DEAR TAMIL CINEMA FANS, well THALAIVAA is an entertaining and commercial film. First we have a look to the cast and crew. CAST Vijay: As usual stunning performance and mind blowing dance movements. His dialog delivery, hum-our sense, expressions and body language is-so classy and stunning. Even he has done his path in the film very well. He is now on the pathway to mega success and another STUNNING HIT from VJ which follows the success of KAAVALAN,VELAYUTHAM,NANBAN AND THUPAKKI. Amala Paul – well another leading heroin. She has done her path excellent in the film as the directors guidance. Well her character has a good scope but the role doesn't gave a chance to Amala Paul to give deep performance. The chemistry has worked well with VJ . Santhanam – Santhanam is a compulsory brand in most of the film. His jokes worked out well in the film. He didn't failed of giving on perfect timing jokes. His performance was a great support to bring the film into the entertaining structure. Vijay to Santhanam combo has worked out well. Sathyaraj - Puratchi Thamizhan Sathyaraj has slowly but surely carved a niche for himself as a character actor, after having donned numerous successful roles as a villain and a lead hero. Some of the prominent character roles that he has done in the recent past include the ones in Nanban and the Telugu movie Mirchi. He also had done a main role in Chennai express. Well his role in Thalaivaa is really classy and has unique style on it. Once again the wave length between Vijay and Sathyaraj has exposed and functioned well after the mega success Nanban. THE REST OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM IS SO PROMISING AND DONE THEIR PART AS STRUCTURED BY THE DIRECTOR. CREW CAMERA – Nirav shah.. really a artistic cinematographer. You may know his excellent works in many films he did before such as MADRASAPATTINAM, VAANAM, ENGEYUM KADHAL, THAANDAVAM,DEIVA THIRUMAGAL, AND MORE. This film his camera magic has bring the audience a wonderful visuals and the tone of the suites the story and convey it through his visual to the audience. Editor – ANTHONY…Everyone know him for his excellence in editing and one of the leading and top editor in the Indian cinema industry. So no review on editing because he has done a great job. Music – GV.PRAKASH…HIS magic in music worked will with the audience. The music is so catchy and the background music for the film rocks. Gv you had done a good job and he didn't disappoint the audience in the music segment. Even the music helped the screenplay to move on to the next level. He also done a guest appearance in a song titled 'VANGANNA VANNAKAMANA'. DIRECTOR – Vijay is well known for his excellent films like Kireedam, Madrasapattinam, Deivathirumagaland Thaandavam. All the film is a great film and made a huge success in the box office and even touched the hearts of the audience. The same magic has done by AL.VIJAY in Thalaivaa by making the audience to immerse in the storyline and enjoy the film.He had done his role perfectly without any dragging in the screenplay or unwanted scenes and dialogs in the film. The film will be full and full entertainment and commercial based. Well it doesn't have any elements such describing the politicians, political orientated storyline or criticizing anyone. It actually conveying the awareness of humanity which humans need to bare in mind and the good and awesome relationship between various religion,caste and culture people India. It also shows how they being united as Indian and their understanding on each other.

Rating:4.5/5.

According to Irresistible force paradox "What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?" .This is best suited to flicks in which a successful director meets a successful actor. In this venture either one of them is bound to go out of their way to satisfy the other. In case of "Thalaiva", the director sacrifices and becomes a savior bigger than the one pictured throughout the film.

For how long will a savior be symbolized by a slow motioned- sun etched silhouette and a trademark dress that becomes the savior's uniform? This is one of the many questions that arose during the movie. There are many such obvious flaws which make the movie less interesting than it should have been.

For a start, the first half runs on two factors, the protagonist's romantic track and his dance competition. But, it doesn't take a genius to figure out how both the tracks are likely to end and this creates a vacuum between the viewers and the viewed. Santhanam tries to fill this vacuum but after a while, the "bro" factor loses its charm and becomes another speed breaker in the already slow screen play.

The second half is nothing but the old coffee brewed under a new outfit but the essence and odor remains the same. The unnecessary addition of characters (Australian gang that competes with Vijay) questions the credibility of the director, this is the first time that the director has used violence to this extent, the only reason being the hero himself.

Sathyaraj plays a calm mannered Don similar to Velu Naickar (Nayagan) but his presence is felt mostly through his chant "Anna" and his snapshots. Amala paul plays two shades of Grey in the two halves and ends up as the better half.

Actor Vijay should pay the same attention to the screenplay that he does to his character. After a rejuvenating success of "Thuppaki" that pulled in repeat audiences, this film is bound to disappoint. The flick lacks pace, never gives the audience a chance to guess, lacks a powerful villain and is scripted for the hero rather than being the other way around.

When Vijay and Santhanam are offered a hot drink, they identify it as Black Coffee but the chef calls it "RASAM" (Curry). The same goes for the movie.

Tamil Cinema desperately needs better scripts and powerful villains.

Until we get another Thuppaki, "I AM WAITING", thuppaki style.

This venture is different from Vijay's previous films like ''Nanban'', ''Thuppaki'' and ''Velayudham'', but still, it keeps what it has promised. Like Indiaglitz.com stated, Thalaivaa is something between a classy gangster flick or a racy action drama.

People say Thalaivaa has brought Vijay back to the bottom again, but that's wrong. Some people really have a problem with looking at an actor's films (specially Vijay's) in different angles. Okay, as a fan I admit that Vijay slipped a time when films like ''Azhagiya Tamizh Magan'', ''Villu'' and ''Sura'' came out, but still he came out with four blockbusters in a raw, which are ''Kaavalan'', ''Velayudham'', ''Nanban'' and ''Thuppaki'' and what happened to these films? Aren't four blockbusters in a raw good enough for the actor to come back in track. The fact that people really can't accept this, kind of freaks me out at times. So, here's the fact: This is the truth: Thalaivaa is a different genre, and as everybody know Vijay does an excellent job in his usual genres which are action and comedy. Thalaivaa is a decent gangster drama which tells the story about the change of a common man's life. Simple as that. ''How?'' is the question. There's no doubt that the film was completed beautifully.

The first official combination between Vijay and G.V. Prakash Kumar was awesome. The soundtrack is energetic and the choreography was mind-blowing. The costumes that are used in this film were also pretty good, specially those that are used in Sathyaraj sir's character and those that are used in Vijay's character in the second half of the film. Santhanam's sense of humor hasn't sunk a percent at all and Amala Paul has shown another side of her acting skills. Abhimanyu Singh was also faithful to his role as Bhima. The film also has another benefit: Unexpected, but needed twists.

As a Vijay fan, I believe Thalaivaa will be a film all Vijay fans will remember. Perfect title for both the story and the actor and you see the character is born to win. It might not be as great as ''Nanban'' or ''Thuppakki'', but still it's satisfying!

''Once we pick up the knife, it will either protect or destroy. But one thing we know for sure is that it's impossible to drop it down.'' - Sathiyaraj

Another movie taken from the books of Coppola's God Father.A story on how happy-go-lucky guy turns into a leader and so on... as simple as it can be.

Casting: Vijay: Very good acting, real treat for fans to watch him on screen.Throughout the movie Vijay has played a calm and clever sort of persona.First half pays a happy go guy with all good things surrounded by him and on the latter half you can see a wonderful performance from vijay (experience speaks).On the whole vijay has given his 100% for the movie and done his part full heartedly.

Santhanam: As always laughter guaranteed. Sathyaraj,Ponvannan,Manobala & Suresh: Done what was asked to do, clean and crisp. Amala paul: Need to understand that "Mynaa" was successful also because of the story and the director (tat's it). G.V.Prakash:'Vaanganna' enjoying, Good BG score.Job well done. Nirav: Well crafted visuals gels with the movie be it Australia or Mumbai.

A.L.Vijay: Movie is good , Very nice characterization for Vijay including the body language.Has taken efforts towards the making of the film.Still failed on making a story that can make people sit right till the end credits keeps rolling.Nowadays the moviegoers have started to study movies and its technical qualities. Though they do not expect new story every time,the story telling trend has to be new. Being only director to direct Ajith,Vikram and Vijay so far, expectations are higher.

Conclusion: Very fresh and clean performance from Vijay Familiar scenes with repetitive dialogues &Predictive climax. High time for AL Vijay to work on scripts with something new on it.

Reaction: If India loses a match even after Sachin's century. A definite one time watch for fans and family audience.

We have seen many gangster films in Tamil Cinema. Mani Rathnam's Nayagan and Suresh Krishna's Baashha are two big pillars in this genre. You can make a classy Godfather style film or a massy larger than life don style film. A.L.Vijay's Thalaivaa adds to this list and let's see how it worked. First of all, Thalaivaa is the proper mass film tailor-made for Vijay's larger than life persona. He sports two shades in this film. He starts off as a dancer who resides in Australia. After some turns of events, he founds himself turning into a don. Vijay is irreplaceable in this film and his screen presence lifts the film. He is energetic on-screen looks stylish in every looks that he does. The white tight shirt and the blue jeans are perfect for Vijay as Vishwa Bhai. Honestly, the montage shots of Vijay in the "Thalaivaa Thalaivaa" song look powerful and it's a must say that he is perfect in this film. Except for Vijay, Thalaivaa doesn't offer us stronger characters. We have Sathyaraj appearing as Vijay's father in a very limited screen time. As the female lead, we have Amala Paul appearing in a totally unexpected role which you will be surprised by it in the interval. Abhimanyu Singh plays the main antagonist but doesn't have much to do except taking revenge on Sathyaraj and Vijay in the film. A.L.Vijay focused more on catapulting Vijay's character. He has made a film specifically for Vijay fans. He had added so many fan moments for Vijay fans to cherish. The jail scene where Vijay and the main antagonist meet after the latter's arrest is a perfect Vijay moment. Despite so much of Vijayism in Thalaivaa, A.L.Vijay lets down the pace of the film because of a lack of focus on the writing. Thalaivaa is a 3 hours film. It takes so much time before entering into the main core plot. The first half is properly packaged whereas the second half seems to be too much slow. At the same time, the first half has no focus on the main purpose of the film. We have romantic scenes, comedy scenes, and a couple of songs that honestly has nothing to do with the initial storyline. A.L.Vijay could have removed the unneeded subplots to make the film grippier and much interesting. Overall, Thalaivaa is a film made for Vijay fans.

The delay of release had affected the collection of this movie..A well written script , but the screenplay was not much good ..The performance of vijay was better..The second half had felt a bit boring ..Overall , the film fails to engage the audience even though it had a well written script..

Watched the first show of Thalaivaa. From the trailer itself, it was clear that the movie was going to follow the much beaten path of "Nayakan", "Devar Magan", "Sarkar" and the Malayalam hit "Naduvazhigal". Rehashing a familiar storyline is not a crime in itself, all you have to make sure is to present it in a convincing and different way. If rehashes and remakes were considered bad, a movie like "Nayagan" or "Sarkar" would have had no takers. AL Vijay has to a large extent, succeeded in giving a convincing movie to Vijay fans and to Tamil moviegoers in general.

The story, as we all can guess, is about a much-scrutinized, la Robinhood don (played brilliantly by Sathyaraj), going with his life keeping his only son in Australia under the pretext that he is a businessman who is too busy. The son (Vijay, who else!) leads a regal life, taking care of water supply business and doubling up as a dancer. He meets the heroine (Amala Paul, in a cute role) one fine day and love blossoms after a while. One day, circumstances force him to travel to Mumbai to see his father and how he gets involved in all the goings-on there forms the rest of the story.

The movie is leisurely paced, which might not find agreement with all sections of Vijay fans. The love story is a drawn out one, but then there is enough spice in it to keep you involved. The interval is called for with a bang, which gives a clue as to what might happen next. What happens in the second half is a complete deviation from the first one, and can be termed "mass" in the fan language. Even then, it's not happening at breakneck speed which many might expect. However, I thought that the pace was right here (there is no point in sacrificing logic for pace), what was needed was some trimming of some irrelevant portions. The movie achieves what it wants to, in the end.

The technical front is impressive, with Nirav Shah leading from the front to capture some great shots of Mumbai in the second half. The screenplay is tight and we have a mass movie which does not let go of logic, to an extent. The villain disappoints, and what we wanted was not a menacing looking one, but someone who was capable of standing up to the hero. The songs were absolutely a blast while the BGM could have been used to better effect in the second half. AL Vijay could have exercised more control over the proceedings in a more gripping manner, but he has done his best, we feel. It's easy to crib about the minute details, which we feel as aberrations.

Performance wise, Vijay shoulders the movie and gives out a mature performance. Both the halves demanded different get-ups and acting styles from the actor, and he obliges in his own, unique style. Here is an actor who has potential which has yet been under utilized. Sathyaraj performs well, being the seasoned veteran he is and Amala Paul gets a good role, rather than being the regular eye candy in usual movies. His character sketch failed Abhimanyu Singh but everyone else did their roles well.

Overall, the movie is an entertainer in the usual mould of masala movies, but after the movie ends, we feel that there was something different and that it was for good. Much, much better than Singam - 2!!

Just now watched film!!!Simply awesome!!!Mind blowing performance.Story may god father based but execution was simply superb.I just entered into theater the movie gonna typical political drama & punch dialogues from vijay.It just kicked me off,not at all a single scene related to political,its complete clean entertainer.Vijay performance is awesome.Sathyaraj chanceless performance.Those who say negative about the film just get away,learn to appreciate don't down a person its really awkward.No over hyped scenes for an introduction,really its very normal and awesome.Second half may lengthy but not at all boredom.Overall its a complete family entertainer.Don't miss it!!!!

,"I am a huge Vijay fan. I waited eagerly for Thalaivaa and I must say I was not disappointed. The movie is gripping and entertaining. The Vijay- Vijay combo is a hit."

"Loved the Vijay-Amala Paul chemistry. They make a great pair. Hope to see more of them in the future."The dramatic scenes are so well executed. And the background score adds to the drama on screen. I hope to catch once again." "I loved the music by G.V. Prakash, especially the title track. Performances by Vijay and AmalaPaul are memorable. But I loved Sathyaraj in the movie! He is such a talented actor. I can not believe he is the same actor in Chennai Express!"

Logic and common sense should be left at home even before getting tickets for this movie, a mistake which i still live to repent. i went for the 130am show and as far as i could see the story had not developed an inch even after 3am. only thing to watch for in the initial 1 1/2 hours is the decent one liners from santhanam. the santhanam comedy and the plot twist was the only saving grace in this sorry 1st half.

the horror of the second half started with all the villains coming into play. here the low opinion if the filmmakers about the viewing public was shown in due measure. at this point i fell asleep, the second time in a theater after Mammoty's Pazhassiraja. was woken up by my dear friends, led out in the flow of the subdued crowd, paid for parking and left ruing my decision to go for this utter waste of time.

in thuppaki at least the songs were good, here everything goes to hell to be damned.

Please unless you are a die hard vijay fan. do not bother to expend your time and energy for this nightmarish venture.

Let me start with the Sathyaraj's intro. The director has groomed him to his past looks and looks very dynamic in the flash back.. But in the present he is totally calm and calculative, which shows his maturity at that age. Next comes our Hero Ilayathalapathy Vijay, who is a professional dancer in the 1st half and transforms into a don of Mumbai in second half to take revenge against the Villain. Santhanam is improving day by day. Surely, you will meet doctor for having stomach pain by laughing for his comedy in this film. Amala paul looks gorgeous in the second half in cop suit. Ragini Nandwani is beautiful, but shows her face only in 2 or 3 scenes. Villain abhimanyu singh was awesome when compared to Velayudham, his previous flick with Vijay. Movie is full of twists and entertainment. There is no place for politics in this film, as some miscreants say. The interval and climax are chanceless. G.V.Prakash's music and BGM makes the film more mass classy for Vijay. But we will miss "Sol Sol" song in the movie, due to the length of the movie. Guest appearance of G.V.Prakash in "Vanganna Vanakanganna" song could have been made effective, as audience kept mum for his appearance. The only negative point I find in this film is that, Nasser disappeared suddenly in the first scene itself and I couldn'y find him in the movie anywhere else and don't know what happened to him in the movie (dead or alive). As a whole the best ever movie from Director AL.Vijay and Ilayathalapathy Vijay. A Massive Classy family entertainer of the year 2013.

My Rating: 9.9/10