Deiva Thirumagal – Movie Review

This movie, Deiva Thirumagal, was released a couple of months back. The Tamil press has been going gaga over the movie and its actors, which finally impressed my mother to want to watch the movie. I couldn’t wriggle out of this one and thankfully, though only momentarily, I was unable to get tickets a couple of weeks back. But with the movie having run its course and with the next mega movie Mankatha being release a couple of days back, tickets for DT were easily available.

Coming to the movie, I just don’t know where to start my rant. I will take up the biggest one first viz., Vikram’s acting. There has been enough promotional material going around the Internet and I was well aware of what the movie was about. I then saw Vikram in the first set of trailers that were released and instantly realised that all the written stuff about his acting was just baloney. My opinion was confirmed after I saw some of the comedy scenes that were telecast on TV. And it got solidified after watching the movie.

He is portrayed as a man whose body has grown
faster than his brain. He is referred to as someone presumably in his late-20s-mid-30s, but with the brain of a 5 year old. And this person gets his wife, who is estranged from her family, pregnant. The wife dies during the birth of their girl and he somehow manages to take care of the child. After the child joins a school, her maternal aunt and grand-father manage to separate the father and child. How the father and the daughter unite, forms the rest of the story.

I am no expert in the field of medicine and hence I have a doubt about the possibility of someone with a five-year old’s level of brain functioning, actually being able to get someone pregnant! If someone can show actual case histories of such instances, then it greatly helps me to accept the basic premise on which the movie’s story has been formed.

Ok, let’s forget that issue and get back to the acting of Vikram. Sir, I know you had to portray a 5-year old, but did that mean that you had to twist your tongue so much? And did you really have to stutter and stammer so much? Agreed that all kids don’t speak very fluently at that age, but what we normally see is a lack of cohesiveness in thought and not necessarily in speech. If you think a kid can’t speak normally, how come you sing so perfectly? And do all 5-year olds run like with their hands stiffly by their sides? And do they actually hop and skip? And the irony of the whole portrayal – the child in the movie is also five, but just didn’t exhibit any of the mannerisms of Vikram!

There is something called acting – the key being a lot of underplay, then there is overacting – most of Sivaji Ganesan’s movies made in the late 70s and early 80s are outstanding examples – and finally there is bad acting – Vijay. Unfortunately, we Indians still feel the need for overacting and simply get carried away by roles that are labelled “different”. And if that comes from a big star, then it is guaranteed to get some awards for sure. The pundits are saying that Vikram’s acting was the best and in my opinion, these pundits are about as mentally stable as the kid that Vikram tried to portray on screen.

Continuing on the acting front, my next disappointment was Amala Paul. In her case too, the print media has been heaping lavish praise on her histrionic abilities that go well with her beauty. I have no complaint about the latter, but with respect to the former, I think she has to do more – more than just widen her big eyes. The only people who have actually acted well in the movie are Anushka, Santhanam, Nasser and the kid, Sara. And the kid certainly scored heavily in the court scene.

Coming to the issues I have with the screenplay, here is the list:

1. Like in the field of medicine, I am no expert in the field of law; but, while a case is being heard in court, can the plaintiff and the defendant stand to the right of the judge one day and to his left on the other? Isn’t there some kind of rule that one of these two parties, has to stand on only one side of the judge? 
2. Continuing on the legal aspect, at the beginning of the case hearing, it is proven that Vikram’s character has a good IQ. However, all subsequent arguments seem to be concentrated only on disproving this fact. I thought that once one aspect was well established, the lawyers move on to other topics by which they can corner their opponent. 
3. Why aren’t Anushka and Y.Gee.Mahendra (her dad) on normal speaking terms? As far as I can recollect, there was no mention on why they seem to be indifferent to the each other. 
4. Why did the maternal grand-father leave Vikram some 30 Kms from Chennai? He was driving down at night from Ooty and he found a place only 30 Kms from Chennai to ditch Vikram? 
5. Does Anushka start getting “feelings” for Vikram? Was that why there was a solo song for her? Or was it because, the Director came to know that he had some film reels that the producer was ready to finance, dates from Anushka that were going waste and a song in excess composed by the music director? I am stumped. 
6. Vikram is old in real life, has a muscular physique and so, he obviously had to tone down for this role. But couldn’t the make-up guy use some magic and hide some of those unnecessary wrinkles? Anushka’s look is also not consistent. She looks quite old in some shots and too young in some others. The “namam” or “sree-churanam” that Nasser sports – I haven’t seen one in that shade of saffron on an Iyengar’s forehead; ever. 
7. Nasser is supposed to be this big-shot lawyer, but somehow, he does not come across as a strong one. Why would such a big-shot take up a simple case and actually argue it himself? And why would he do it with such low levels of preparation? 
8. The entire episode with the 4 friends of Vikram, who too are similar to Vikram in terms of mismatch in physical and mental growth – I really don’t understand the significance of these characters. 
9. In the closing arguments in court, one line from Nasser influences Vikram so much, that despite legally winning his child’s custody he hands her over to his wife’s family. If he can process so much logic, is he really only 5-years old? 
10. Also, during that closing stages, the maternal grand-father himself appears to have a change of heart and doesn’t object to his lawyer’s change in stance. So, when Vikram hands over the child to his younger daughter, couldn’t he have actually taken Vikram also into his charge? Wouldn’t that have been a simple solution? 
11. There was no real motive for Anushka to actually take up this case. If she was herself a big lawyer with some score to settle with the rich maternal grand-father, I can understand. Or if she is sure of getting some monetary compensation from the opponent, that makes sense too. Or if there was major media attention, that would help her career to get started. Else, if she were always fighting for the downtrodden, then this is a fit case. But none of them hold good here. 

Yes, there are a few positives too – Santhanam gives a good performance simply by not bellowing, Anushka comes across as someone capable of acting, the supporting cast didn’t resort to over-acting, the comic interludes were neat and well-woven into the script, no song with lungis and yellow saris (no kuthu paattu), no fight sequence etc.

All in all, this movie was quite bad, filled with clichéd scenes, dialogues written purely to stimulate the tear glands of the weak-hearted and acted incorrectly by the main character.