- Date of Release: 13 April 2022
- Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
- Language: Tamil
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Beast
RATING
Introduction
Onto the next release of the day and I have reserved the best for last. This basically means that you will get to read my review of KGF Chapter 2 tomorrow knowing fully well that you will be watching that film anyway(who am I even kidding!). So before that I got a chance to sneak in another theatrical release of the weekend. And with that I finished watching the Tamil film Beast(titled Raw in Hindi). This weekend was touted as the weekend of the clashes with KGF Chapter 2 going against Beast and Jersey. But Jersey backed out at the last minute onky to leave two players pitted against each other. So in more ways than one this was Thalapathy Vijay Vs Yash. And the thing with Beast was that it brought us the combination of Vijay with the director Nelson who had earlier directed the spectacular Tamil film Doctor which I highly recommend. Watching its trailer though had made me skeptical of things to expect whether a creator like Nelson would succumb to the star power of Vijay. With much skepticism, I ventured in the theatre. So then does Beast unleash its beast mode and is leaner, meaner and stronger, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
Beast follows the story of a hostage situation in a mall where all hopes lie on a RAW agent Veer to rescue the day. The story is literally a one-liner where a similar setting was seen in the Bruce Willis starrer Die Hard. But to my surprise the film began on a promising note. The idea of a star like Vijay surrendering to the vision of a maker like Nelson was refreshing to watch. And so there was no heroic entry, instead Vijay playing with a little child only to unleash a series of stunts which were fun to watch. But the film nose dives from this point. The entire sequence at the wedding culminating into a blossoming romance just made me cringe and make my eyes roll. There definitely is no scope for romance in this film. But I still had hopes once the drama would shift to the mall where all of the action would take place. Sadly, I was mistaken.
A hostage situation demands a certain level of tension to be builtup. Instead here, it seemed like a video game for the protagonist with the easy mode on. This had a lot to do with a lack of a proper antagonist who was powerful and threatening enough to stand against Vijay. It was Vijay’s persona which was most definitely overpowering the script. The comedy introduced even in a hostage situation was just killing the moment which was builtup. The focus should have been on creating an atmosphere of intrigue and tension which the makers failed. On top of that there were physics and logic defying stunts which would have been thrashed by everyone if this was a Bollywood film. I feel if it is bad then it should be called out too right? And the second half further nosedives, even the twists and turns do not work. The film ends on a whimper which just did not give you a high. Barring a few action scenes in the mall, the screenplay falls flat.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are catered to the masses and they manage to do the job intended to. The music is good and the BGM is pretty good too. However, the use of BGM in many scenes is what is the issue here. The BGM in places does not match with the drama which is unfolding. The action sequences(atleast some of it) are well designed. Director Nelson is a good director however here he seems to be buried under the personality of Vijay. Had it been an amalgamation of the two worlds, this movie would have killed it!
Performances
The performances are plain average other than Vijay. Ankur Vikal and Lilliput who are good actors otherwise just do not leave an impact in front of Vijay. Yogi Babu and his humour fall flat as well. Aparna Das looks pretty and somewhat leaves an impact. I felt sorry for a prolific performer like Shine Tom Chacko. He had to mouth many lines in Hindi which he was uncomfortable with. My point was why not cast someone who knows Hindi if that was the case. Pooja Hegde as Preethi was just there perhaps a little more than she was in the film’s promo. She is talented and she really needs to choose the right kind of roles which would match her potential. It is only Thalapathy Vijay who leaves an astounding impact even when the chips are down. His swag snd his moves are to die for and it will be an absolute treat for his fans. But everyone else may not be too impressed.
Conclusion
Beast is weaker, lamer and poorer as opposed to leaner, meaner and stronger. If a production house like Sun pictures has a low key release of their film which has Thalapathy Vijay then you know that it spells trouble. Available in a theatre near you.