It's a shame when what could have been a promising movie ends up being a giant waste of time. Elan gives us the story of an aspiring actor and the hardships he faces trying to make a name for himself in the Tamil cinema industry in "Star" with actor Kavin in the lead role after the sleeper success of his previous outing in "Dada". And therein lies the first problem.
Actor Kavin - the anchor on which this movie is fastened, turns out to be grossly miscast, with him just not having the range required to play the role effectively. I've seen a few reviews praising Kavin for his performance here, but I just don't see it. Most of the movie was me just wondering how bad a job Kavin is doing here, and feeling that as bad as the movie might be, if it could have been salvaged by a better actor. Every time Kavin tried to be what the script might demand of a great actor, it just comes across as incredibly try-hard and cringe-worthy. Think the monologue he recites to his father which was clearly intended to be a moment of awe, which instead just ended up being an incompetent caricature of a good actor.
The movie's second biggest issue is the very plot itself. It lacks any bit of focus or direction, and just ends up being all over the place. What makes things worse is the painful melodrama infused throughout the movie without any self-awareness. It's a nothing movie where things happen for the sake of happening, and happens so in the most ridiculous way possible. Think the entire second half, with the introduction of Aditi Pohankar's character Surabi - who not only was written to be the most annoying person in the world, but was also written as if the writers themselves had no idea what to do in the second half of the movie.
And yes, characters. It's difficult to like a movie without a single likeable or relatable character. Kavin's character especially, spends the entire movie being an arrogant entitled loser with no redeemable qualities, but is somehow the one we're supposed to be cheering for? Worse so is the fact that the movie tries to justify his insufferable nature by virtue of him being the main character. It was such an incompetent movie all around.
I think the one thing the movie has going for it is the fact that it keeps us expecting something to happen throughout. And this is good enough to distract us from what a horrible movie we've been watching the whole time. It's not until you get home and start thinking back on what you actually watched, do you start to realize just how bad it is. So yea, save yourself the trouble and ignore this movie. You'll be better off.
