Adirindi movie review: It's a mix of Ganesh, Tagore and Dhoom 3
Cast: Vijay, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha, Nithya Menen, Satya Raj, S.J. Suryah and Vadivelu
Director: Atlee
The controversial Adirindi, dubbed version of the Tamil film Mersal starring Vijay, hit screens in the Telugu states. The film was in the news for a few controversial lines referencing the row over Goods and Sales Tax (GST). Dr Bhargav (Vijay) runs a clinic for the poor and takes Rs 5 as fee. He visited Paris to receive an award for excellence in medicine. At the same time, a magician, Vijay (Vijay), kills a popular person in Paris. The police suspects that the magician could be Dr Bhargav. Back in Hyderabad, some people are kidnapped and the investigation officer (Satyaraj) finds out that magician Vijay is the murderer. He discovers that Vijay and Dr Bhargav are two different people though they are look-alikes. The film then unravels the mystery behind Vijay’s crimes.
Director Atlee is Shankar’s protégé and follows in his footsteps, choosing to take a close look at the medical profession and how it has turned into a big business. He cleverly weaves in commercial elements into the narration while highlighting all that’s wrong with the medical profession. The subject is not new to Telugu audience, who have seen the Venkatesh-starrer Ganesh and Chiranjeevi’s Tagore. Atlee has taken some points from those films and the main idea comes from Dhoom 3, in which Aamir Khan plays a double role. Atlee’s advantage is that he has a major actor like Vijay starring in the film. The first half is very interesting, and Vijay makes it more so. The director explores in a nice way the nexus between ambulance personnel, agents and hospitals. The narration tends to flag in the second half.
Vijay’s portrayal of Vijay and Dr Bhargav is completely mass-oriented, but may not gel with the Telugu audience. The episode involving Nithya Menen and Vijay is long, and boring. The final episodes turn into a typical revenge drama a la Kamal Haasan in Vichitra Sodarulu. The film completely belongs to Vijay who portrays three roles, as a magician, doctor and a villager. His mannerisms, his dialogue delivery and his fight sequences are a treat not only to his fans but the general audience as well. There is not much space for the female leads, but Kajal Aggarwal looks gorgeous, Samantha looks cute and her scenes with Vijay are definitely entertaining. For Nithya Menen, this is a usual role. Vadivelu and Satyaraj justify their presence. S.J. Suryah looks promising as villain, but his character doesn’t get prominence.
Music by A.R. Rahman is good, and the background score is definitely one of the highlights of the film. G.K. Vishnu proves he is among the best with his cinematography. The dialogues are good, most of them targeting corporate and government hospitals. Some of them are thought-provoking too. However, the controversial dialogue on GST has been muted.
