‘Don’ movie review: Sivakarthikeyan stars in a simple comedy-drama unsure of its purpose

when a main character leader Apologizes from the heart to the other, we see a poster in the background that says “Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit it.”

This is what the scene also tries to communicate, and he succeeds in doing so. But for the first time, filmmaker Sibi Chakraborty zooms into the poster, lest we miss the message… he zooms in so much that there is no room for subtlety.

This example also covers the problem with the rest of the film; It delivers its messages through hackneyed lines rather than screenplays. leader wants to talk about two things: a) finding our talents in rules-filled, unnecessarily stringent engineering colleges that want to make fun of their students, and b) celebrating our parents while they are still with us. wait how are these things related… let’s not get into that.

Firstly, these issues are as new to Tamil cinema as the last over finish (next season, guys… there’s always a next season) to Chennai Super Kings fans. Engineering colleges in particular are attacked like a reluctant part-time bowler. Meanwhile, Father Sentiment, although a relatively less used weapon than Mother Sentiment, can cause substantial distress.

Secondly, the screenplay doesn’t even care much about what the film wants to talk about. Instead, it largely spends time with the actions of its protagonist, Chakraborty (Shivkarthikeyan) in a one-off battle on his college principal Bhuminathan (SJ Surya). Even this confrontation is properly established only after an hour in the film. Until then, we’ll have to sit through the face-throbbing, moaning comedy.

Samples for your perusal: a) SJ Surya catches a couple romancing in college. He shows a wrapper of Dairy Milk Silk as evidence to one of his assistants, Munishkant. And, we hear the famous moaning voices of S Janaki from ‘Nethu Rathiri Yamma’. Because silk, ‘silk’ smitha… gettit? b) Sivakarthikeyan reconciles Priyanka Arul Mohan after a conflict. He asks her to go out for a date. She says right and proceeds to give him… date fruit. <सीधे चेहरे वाला इमोजी डालें>

We also get online liners like, “X ku edukku extra feeling?”, complaints about college canteen food, disappointment about ‘boy besties’… things that worry our youth. If the film argues that engineering colleges are causing problems to students, we really don’t think so.

Then, there is the unexplained father-son angle between Samuthirakani and Sivakarthikeyan. The film portrays Samuthirakani as an unloving father who is always angry with his son. He slaps his son on his first day at school. He shaves his head when he wants to sport a flamboyant hairstyle like his on-screen idol Rajinikanth. When the boy falls off his bicycle, he goes on the cycle. This is an exaggerated version of how Samuthirakani deals with Dhanush in the first half. Velai Ila Pattaholder.

just like VIPHere too, he gets angry with his son for not being a good father. , But the film, towards its end, tries to glorify this toxic parenting, with scenes where his father represses his love in order not to spoil his son. These father-son portions also don’t bode well for a film that ends with the message of nurturing parents.

Priyanka Arul Mohan gets a heroic introduction, but is mainly present in the film to inspire the protagonist. The romantic sub-plot involving him and Sivakarthikeyan also includes common scenes.

after a steady detour in doctor, Sivakarthikeyan comes back laughing, singing and dancing, and somehow makes the film somewhat bearable. Some of his scenes with SJ Suriya (whose character is also largely one-note) work well. Anirudh does musical gymnastics, tries to do the heavy lifting of the scenes with his background score, but all these supporting elements fail to salvage a screenplay with a weak plot.

Upon entering the cinema hall for the film’s 8 a.m. show, a fellow moviegoer who had watched the 4 a.m. show offered his one-line review without asking. “Padathula Kadahi Elam Edum Illa, Brother. Kiss Jolly Ah Pakalam.”

Well, at least part of his review was correct.

Don is playing in theaters now