Sanga Tamizhan (2019)

I was not at all familiar with Vijay Sethupathi’s work before Naduvula Konjam Pakkatta Kanom. The film happened to me, nobody recommended or anything. I was astounded by the performance of its lead. It was a supposedly one-note role…a guy with amnesia and he has the same line over and over again.

But Vijay Sethupathi nailed the role with the precision of a seasoned performer. Just “Enna Achu” (what happened?) had us laughing our ass off while, at the same time, either pitying him or plain just getting annoyed. The performance was tour de force and I had never seen anything like that in Tamil films for a long time, and neither had I ever have seen anything like it (in amnesia, with the same dialogue throughout the entire goddam film). It’s a one-off brilliant stuff that only the gems of the industry (Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, in my book) can pull off now and then. The most recent I witnessed was the over-the-top delicious performance by Madhavan in Thambi.

I short, it's not the usual cup of Tamil film coffee.

Since, then, I have been following Vijay Sethupathi’s career as much as possible and found him to be greatly engaging. In fact, I would downright come out and tell you guys straight that he actually reminded me of an actor in his early years. An actor who had long since shed off the brilliant actor skin and has since donned the Superstar coat.

Yes, Vijay Sethupathi reminded me of the early Rajini who blazed through our screens coming up with the unconventional performance at the era when MGR retired from cinema and Sivaji Ganesan was just going through the motions with no filmmakers challenging him.

Kamal is a method actor by all means. He works on the framework and works hard. He builds the foundation and stands solid to give us one brilliant performance after another. Rajini, on the other hand, is an instinctual actor. He is like a Bedouin, making home goddam where he pleases, no foundation, no framework. Just pitch the tent, entertain us and move on. And when he does that, he enthrals us.

Kamal is a sniper, chooses his target and hits them sharp. Rajini is a machine gun-wielding commando…he just shoots, at times he gets his target and most of the time, there are just wasted bullets.

Vijay Sethupathi is closer to Rajini in that aspect. He doesn’t seem to prepare much for the roles he is playing which are mostly down to earth and as grounded as possible. And he just shoots from the hip as much as possible hitting us targets in the process, some bullets wasted notwithstanding.

And he shines in almost all the roles he is in, as did Rajini where even the stupidest movie he did, we watch it at least to see him come up with magic. Vijay Sethupathi does just that and “that” was most useful in this film.

On the surface, this is just another recycled solo guy against corrupt politicians, greedy businessman story that was dime a dozen for the last few decades. But Vijay Sethupathi sat on it creating his own throne as the king of this film, no matter what the contributions from his co-stars or the technicians are.

It is such a delight to watch him making even the smallest gesture seem so entertaining, the gift which I hope will not diminish as it did to Rajini for sometimes before Shankar shook him up twelve years ago.

Here, he just stands against the bad guys, has fun with the heroines and the family members. And they are good enough to sit through when you are bored with the bad guys…all faceless creatures that would fit in any commercial “mass” flicks.

You will not be able to take your eyes off Mr Sethupathi. Like the Rajini of the early days and of late, he moves in his own speed regardless of the film's pace and packs a wallop as a ball of energy that lights up the screen each time he is on it. Not to mention an asset that not many, even the so-called "mass heroes" posses, an easy sense of humour that doesn't need too much pushing and shoving down our throat. Rajini had that (watch the somewhat sober Anbukku NAn Adimai, where Rajini was hilarious without any funny lines fed to him). Vijay Sethupathi was funnier than Suri, the prerequisite comedic sidekick.

I would recommend this film only for him…nothing else, or anyone else, including and especially the supposed comedian Suri (a subject that gets teased…not sure if it was intentional…in the film). Vijay Sethupathi carries the film on his shoulder and delivers it to us and we appreciate him for just being in it. It was worth the ticket we….or at least, I paid for.

There will be an accusation that he is trying to enter the Vijay/Ajith territory, the "mass hero" crumples. Nope, this is just him flexing his versatility muscle. there more where the stock comes from...watch out...he is the next big goddam thing in the industry.