Vijay's Kaavalan to be screened at the Shanghai Film Festival

Vijay's Kaavalan directed by Siddique has been selected for the Shanghai International Film Festival. It is one of the most distinguished film events in Asia. Kaavalan is one among the 200 films that were selected from nearly 2500 entries from all over the world. The 14th edition of this festival will get started on June 11th.

Director Barry Levinson, who won an Academy award for his Rain Man starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise will head the panel of judges. Vijay's film will be screened on the 12th, so he will be flying out to Shanghai to participate in this event. He will be rubbing shoulders with some of the most talented people on the globe.

Source: http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/jun-11-02/vijay-kaavalan-11-06-11.html

Kaavalan Movie Review- Not your norm Vijay film.

Kaavalan stars Vijay,Asin and Mithra Kurien in the lead roles. Its a remake of the Malayalam movie "Bodyguard" directed by the same director as the original Siddque. The music is by Vidyasagar :) This is the 3rd time Vijay and Asin are working together, 2nd time Siddique and Vijay are working together and the 7th time Vidyasagar and Vijay are working together :) 


Story: Boominathan(Vijay) is a peculiar guy, who wants to be a bodyguard. He gets a job to be Muthuramalingam's(Rajkiran) bodyguard, but he wants him to be his daughter, Meera's(Asin) and friend Madhu 's (Mithra Kurien) bodyguard;when they go to college. What happens after that forms the rest of the story. :)


Performances: Its a cake walk for Vijay, reminds you of his lover boy days. He has a mesmerizing throughout the film.  Same for Asin, its easy for her, and she looked fab. :)  Mithra played the same role as the one in the Malayalam version, so its easy for her, but it seemed she had more in the Tamil version; she looked gorgeous also. Who says Vadivelu is losing comicality?! He sure cracks you up in this film! :) The rest of the supporting cast(Rajkiran,Roja,M.S Bhaskar,etc.) were good for their roles they had. 

Finally Asin has done a South movie after being away in the Hindi film industry! Vijay said on "Koffee with Anu" that Asin declined many of the offers, when she was to act with Vijay. Guess she found scope in this role, which there is :) Vijay was outstanding in the film, but I must comment on the hairstyles: the hairstyle at the end and in the song "Sada Sada" didn't suit him well, for some reason; they weren't his thing. Oh my and Asin's costumes in some scenes were just TOO peppy and girly. They didn't suit the mood of the film, and they were too unrealistic in some parts. Vijay was apt for the role of the bodyguard, because he looks young, whilst Dileep looked a bit too old for the role. Though both carried out the role really well, Vijay was a bit more applicable. But when it comes to the heroines its the other way around, Nayantara seemed a bit more calm and cool in the role, while Asin was a bit more perkish. Even Kareena Kapoor, who is to do the Hindi version, liked Nayan better; and I agree with her. 


Music: Once again, music is by Vidyasagar, the one who loves the "kuthu" songs. But in this film he proved himself that he can do classy/calm tunes like "Yaradhu Yaradhu" or "Sada Sada". There were the college-type songs like "Step Step" and "Pattamboochi", which made you tap your feet. "Vinnai Kappan" was the closet thing to a mass number in this film. If you here for the first time it sort of sounds messy, but its at about the 5th or 6th listen, everything falls in place. :) My favs: "Step Step" and "Pattamboochi" :) 





Technical Side: I really don't have anything to mention here other then about the settings. The settings were very eye-catching,especially in the scene where Vijay goes to see "Ammukutty" :D But other than that everything was normal :)


Pros:

• Cast
• Settings
• Basic Story
• Music
• Comedy
• BGM
• Vijay's energy 

Cons:

• The roles(everyone's including Vijay's) definitely needed more depth, cause sometimes the roles just left you hanging. 
• Vijay's hairstyle in some scenes
• Asin's costumes in some scenes
• The cutting out of a couple of scenes, as in some scenes from the Malayalam version aren't in this version.

Kaavalan is a decent remake, I understand that Siddique had to take out some scenes from this film, to suit the Tamil audience. But some parts aren't convincing at times. Maybe if I didn't see the Malayalam version, I might have not noticed that some scenes aren't convincing. But I happen to see it, so I noticed. This is a great comeback for Vijay, as an actor and box office wise.


Bottom Line: A heart touching, romantic film. VIJAY IS BACK! Watch It! :)


3.5/5