Vijay is featured in identical dual roles in Kaththi. After Azhagiya Tamil Magan he is seen again seen in double role in this new realise. , Kathiresan and Jeevanantham are two roles played simultaneously by him. Kathir is a crook who has visited jail previously for24 times, Jeevanantham is a sober, an educated activist who works hard for the betterment of his depleting village where water is a big worry. Their paths get criss-crossed very early in the movie thus the film is set in that motion.
Proving himself again as versatile actor, Vijay had made good use of the opportunity to play these diverse roles. The character Kathir is well high on theatrics, the Vijay quite popular but the character Jeeva is fresh and is so not Vijay in all aspects. Ofcourse Kathir is the fan favourite while Jeeva takes away our heart with empathy for his motives. Looking in to this aspect, it is defnetly a strong movie
When talking about the director of the film A.R.Murugadoss, he has made all effort to touch upon the major issuesclose to his heart rampant corruption, farmer suicides, the plight of senior citizens, water scarcity, the workings of the sensational news-hungry media and also goes on to vilify the corporate and their aggressive expansion plans without considering their CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives. Giving out a monologue on all these in the second half of the movie definitely highlights all like any other Vijay movie though it seems to be little manipulated.
The screen play of the movie could have been made better as it turns to be sluggish and lengthier. The allocation of songs leaves a lot of expectation especially when Selfie Pulla is at its peak discussions. The song Aathi is captivated well where as Pakkam Vandu does not give much of an impact. But Vijay’s moves are dazzling as always. The movie is not consistent when it comes to the distribution of among the sizzling and restless moments. The length of the movie which is 2hrs 45mins is yet another drawback which feels to be dragging.
The Thuppakki hangover continues in Kaththi to an extent, if Thupakki was dedicated to the Army, Kaththi is dedicated to the farmers of the land.
Anirudh seems to be sensible as usual which is in the BGM score while the other youngster on board; DoP George C Williams makes a smooth transition to the big commercial space with some solid work on the visuals, the lighting patterns and the angles.
Amongst other performers, Neil Nitin Mukesh, adds new sauve, stylish villains to the list elevating his performance through his voice and the dubbing. Samantha is sadly seen as the ‘typical commercial cinema heroine’ who appears in the songs, few romantic scenes and stands in the background while the hero takes over the story.
The veteran actors who played the senior citizens characters are much convincing to be satisfied. Sathish as Vijay’s buddy has done a good job. It should be a glee for Vijay fans to watch Anal Arasu’s stunt choreography. Vijay’s screen presence and agility come to the fore with these extended treats.
All over Kaththi is a grand production which spins around Vijay’s dual roles, the social interest angle and some impactful scenes which are part of the fusion.