Director Vishnuvardhan could take a lesson or two from Director Siva (who has made the recent Veeram) on how to showcase the charisma surrounding Ajith. While Vishnuvardhan in his two films with Ajith was only able to exhibit the style quotient of the star, Siva here pulls of a spectacular show surrounding the magnetic personality of the star.
In ground reality, it is very difficult to weave a mass entertainer depending only on Ajith. Beyond his handsomeness, unlike his contemporaries, Ajith doesn't have a convincing physique to pull of an action hero. When he punches bad guys, more than the wobble in their abdomens, the wiggle in the triceps, biceps and even the paunch of Ajith is more pronounced. The sluggish movements in the action sequences extends to the dance numbers as well. The only area that attracts attention is his elan to breeze through the anti-hero roles that he has been enacting off-late. Yet, the larger than life type films he chose haven't allowed these elements to work into the screenplay; as a result they look nothing more than a photoshoot; or at the best a well made prologue to what could be done with the charisma of Ajith.
This area is where Siva has chosen to attack with his Veeram. Instead of inserting shots that drowns the screen with the white hair or the charming smile or the angry eyes of Ajith just for the sake of pleasing the fans (like how Mahesh Babu's films keep doing for aeons), Siva brings a purpose for these shots. It isn't logic that he is after that tests the grey cells of the audience, but an organic flow in the crazy narrative which works overtime to justify the hype surrounding the larger than life character that Ajith plays. In this mad world that Siva has created, the pose that Ajith (in all white) gives with a black tea goes beyond an aesthetic shot and tells his story through comedy, adulations and sentiment. The love between an aging Ajith and a petite Tamannah too stays true to the mad caper that Siva aimed to deliver. Also, during the whistle worthy action sequences the attention is more on mayhem that the Hero creates through his presence than on the actual fight.
While this is a new dimension for Ajith worship, Siva's formula is essentially a reworking of the successful MGR formula. We get to see shots of Ajith hugging a grandmother, shaking his forefinger sideways to say no to God-like treatment, giving away properties on marriage, making sure everyone is stomach full, standing up for farmers among other dramatic gallantry. While many other heroes have donned the MGR role successfully, Ajith seems to be most comfortable one in it. He is as at ease while riding a bullock cart as he is when talking about castes, pride, philosophy and even Karmas and purpose of life at time as a big leader; and it never creates facepalm.
But once Siva moves away from magnifying the Ajith mania and starts focusing on the story, everything fizzles away into another masala film. Looks like Siva has used up his entire artillery only to showcase Ajith and not the entire film.
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