Azhagiya Tamil Magan (ATM) - Not that beautiful

A walk into that local theater in the evening with an expectation that is sky high. Well, the actor Vijay himself warned his fans much earlier that this film lacks any logic that someone would expect. So, lets get that dirty thing out of our mind. And just try and enjoy the film, perhaps rip it here and there too.

As the movie began, the music for the titles did not make any impact. To some extent I had known the storyline, but it still did not help in just one way.

Imagining Vijay as a college going student is very difficult. After seeing him play much mature roles in Pokkiri, Gilli, Sivakasi etc. its back to college years. But thankfully, the number of scenes with the college as the background were minimal, so one tends to forget that the actor was actually a college student.

Malayalam movie veterans would remember "Iyer the Great" - a classic film by Mammooty. Now tweak it here and there - bring in a lissome beauty, feelings of love and hatred, friends, a dual role to complicate the subject, family and friends for sentimental value - to make it a perfect commercial movie. Thats ATM for you.

Actor Vijay is a athlete in this movie. At 33 plus, its difficult to imagine him as an athlete, but we have to appreciate the effort that has gone in. He has lost weight. His frame is a bit smaller, at least it feels so. And again, athletics is not the main theme of this story. So, not a bad idea. Its definitely better than Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol playing basketball in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. That was such a disgrace to basketball.

Before we move on, I'd like to make one comment about the opening song - Ellaappughazhum. Okay, nowadays all hero introduction songs are highly people oriented - about camaraderie, friendship, fraternity, brotherhood etc. Leaving that aside, the one thing that you will notice in this song is the dance. Vijay has done a few sequences that none of the other Kollywood heroes have done, in the last few years, which is good, because in most other instances, we see Rajinikanth and Vijayakanth walking from this end of the screen to the other and all they do is raise their hands up in the air and bring it down quickly, synchronizing a head shake or two in the middle.



Shriya is simply perfect. She glows like a fresh lotus in a clean pond. Her smile is serious competition to Rani Mukherjee. And you could pay a trillion dollars to watch Shriya in a half sari. Shriya totally complements Vijay on the screen. Nothing unlike Sivaji, where her role was a time wasting tactic. Although her screen presence does not justify her role as a female lead, she plays her part quite well. In the song sequences, she looks like an Arabian beauty. After Jennifer Lopez's, the next best in the world is Shriya's. You know what I am talking about - do you?

Storyline as stated before is about a person who has ESP. You'd kinda feel stupid when you already know the climax of the movie before the intermission. I definitely got that feeling and I was totally annoyed, bored and sick. But then, why are some directors successful to a large extent. They simply know their audience well. The same principle applies here. Although I guessed what was going to happen in the end, the end was still worth it.

Dual roles - good cop and bad cop. What I didn't like about the bad cop was he turning a new leaf after hearing to a small sentimental speech about sex, love and relationships from Shriya. That portion sucked big time. I think that was the only option available for a screenplay that had already dragged people out of their chairs. Literally - a running out of time situation.

Songs - AR Rahman proves himself time and time again. This time a lot of techno and folk music. ARR hates to do a remix, but fine. The director probably asked for it. "Ponmagal Vandaal" did the needful. This season is a remix season. Every movie has one remix song and ARR gave his contribution. "Madhuraikku Pogatha" and "Valayapatti Tamizhe" are very Indian, rather I should say South Indian. Local music instruments dominated. "Nee Marilyn Monroe" was totally on the other side of the spectrum. Completely disco types and very fast. Definitely foot tapping. Finally, "Kelamal Kaiyilae" - a good melody. This song reminds you of the 70s and 80s. ARR has ensured that the female voice brings out that emotion but maintained the music with the current trend.

Comedy doesn't make you roll on the floor because I could sense that everyone from Vijay till the light boy has tried something in the movie - I mean, to make people laugh and it worked only for some.

Bottom line: Watch this movie only if you are a Vijay fan. A generalist will not find any sense in this movie. A music lover will like the songs and the choreography.