A literal Tamil translation of this title would be “I am a Red Man”, which figuratively would mean “I am an angry young man!”. Yes, this one is yet another typical “coming of age” Vishal movie directed by Thiru who collaborated with the star in 2 of his earlier movies - Theeradha Vilayattu Pillai and Samar. Vishal’s previous flick ‘Pandianadu’ directed by Suseenthiran turned out to be a sleeper hit and was sort of a shot in the arm for the actor whose career was in doldrums before that. So Vishal wanted his stars to be unchanged (pun intended), in order to keep his luck going! Let’s see if it has really worked out for him.
The basic plot of the movie is revenge. The movie opens with a group of thugs who mercilessly kill a cop in a train when he threatens to sue them for boozing in the compartment. Then the story cuts to the life of Indiran (Vishal) who along with his friends negotiates hard with another smuggler in order to purchase a pistol. Indiran’s actions are justified with a flashback. Indiran is a narcoleptic (a sleeping disorder) who wants to lead a normal life and prepares a simple bucket list for himself to be fulfilled but finds the going tough because of the unique disease that he has. Upon pursuing one of the items in the bucket list, he encounters Meera (Lakshmi Menon) and love blossoms between them. Inspite of stiff opposition from Meera’s father, she finds a way to get impregnated by Indiran. When everything seems to fall in place, their life is ruined by the group of thugs who were introduced in the train. The motive behind this attack and Indiran’s revenge forms the rest of the plot.
The movie’s selling point is narcolepsy. The first half heavily leans on this disability of the lead in order to establish his character. Like his previous flick, Pandianadu, in this one too Vishal doesn’t grind the axe until the climax and saves the best for the last! Lakshmi Menon unlike in any of her previous movies, in this one she is the daughter of a rich businessman and she has pulled off her role well but the cliche of a rich girl falling for a downtrodden guy sadly stays with the narrative.
A nice twist on the real culprit behind the lead’s mishaps was refreshing - Sundar and Iniya in key roles were a decent combo! Saranya, Jagan and Jayaprakash in the supporting cast were there to adore the screen with their experience.
There were some unwanted scenes that were inserted merely to bring out the dread - good examples would be the opening scene in the train and the scene in which Vishal visits an aged goon in a slum in search of his detractors - these scenes did not have the kind of linkage to the story as they were supposed to have. Also an unnecessary introduction song for Vishal (even though it was not the usual mass number) could have been chopped off from the narrative for a crisper feel. Also what is the need for the scene underwater where Meera makes love with Indiran - because the tragedy strikes them almost the next scene.
Songs from GV Prakash were hummable and his BGM was fine too. Hope he continues for this fashion for sometime. Decent technicalities and conventional dialogs adds some strength for the movie from time to time.
So Thiru and Vishal’s combo has worked out to some extent in their third collaboration and also Vishal has realized his strength and has begun to choose scripts wisely!
Verdict: Average - worth a watch but not a must watch!
Rating: 2.5 / 5
.jpg)