Thalapathy Vijay and Nelson Dilipkumar’s desi Die Hard is an atrocious farce of a film

Movie: Beast
Beast Cast: Vijay, Pooja Hegde, Selvaraghavan, Ankur Ajit Vikal, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Beast Director: Nelson Dilipkumar
Where to Watch: In Theatres
Review by: Russel D’Silva Also Read – Salman Khan death threat: Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali set infested with tighter-than-tight security arrangements [Deets Inside]

Thalapathy Vijay movies are an event, they’re not just cinema – such is his aura that there’s no question of his movies taking bumper openings and being treated like celebrations much like his fellow Tamil cinema Rajinikanth and Ajith films are or even how every new release of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan are or Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra were treated. Moreover, Vijay’s had a very good track record both critically and commercially since more than half a decade with films like Theri, Bairaava, Mersal, Sarkar, Bigil and Master. So, does Beast join this enviable track record Thalapathy has built since more than half a decade. Sadly, almost tragically, the answer is a big no. Also Read – Salman Khan death threat: Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali superstar admits he knows Lawrence Bishnoi since 2018 – here’s how

So, are you excited about what to watch this weekend or what to watch this week and wondering whether Beast is worth your time? Scroll down for my full Beast movie review… Also Read – Salman Khan’s rudeness at IIFA 2022, Akshay Kumar-Ananya Panday’s film and more: Celebs who got trolled this week for bizarre reasons

What’s it about

Veera Raghavan (Thalapathy Vijay) plays one of RAW’s best agents, currently on leave, undergoing treatment for acute PTSD, when he finds himself trapped in a Chennai mall hijacked be terrorists and is the only hope for the Indian government to diffuse the situation.

What’s hot

Thalapathy Vijay looks lean, acts mean, and goes above any beyond the call of duty to try and salvage this trainwreck of a film, but, alas… Pooja Hegde looks fantastic and Yogi Babu tries his best to be funny, but they’re so deliberately sidelined along with the rest of the cast that nothing they try leaves the faintest of impacts. Manoj Paramahamsa’s camerawork and Anirudh Ravichander‘s music plus background score are the other saving graces of the movie.

What’s not

Where to even begin…? Nelson Dilipkumar tried to mix a lot of humour with the rescue operation, but what we end up with is one tiring joke after another between action scenes so poorly executed that kids fighting in a playground would look more threatening if not believable. The terrorists comes across as brainless buffoons, Joseph Vijay counters their every plan as easy as he were playing hide-and-seek with them, and the overall atmosphere of the hijack and subsequent rescue is so farcical and downright cringeworthy that all I could do is merely laugh along to save myself from the trauma of watching a torrid mess disguised as an action movie.

Making matters worse are the problematic body-shaming and beauty-shaming, besides the painful dubbing (not sure if it’s a verbatim translation from Tamil, but either way, what do you make of a hostage cribbing about missing her movie and not watching popcorn when in mortal danger; I couldn’t help feel indifferent toward the fate of such an annoying character) – the dubbing feels like something from the early 2000s on Set Max. The lack of an imposing villain like in most Vijay movies – Ankur Ajit Vikal tries, but like everybody else, can’t do much with what he’s given – or anything imposing whatsoever from the antagonists’ side further dilutes the film. If all this wasn’t enough then Nelson and editor R. Nirmal must’ve felt that they have such a masterpiece on hand that they stretch their product for all eternity.

BL Verdict

Nelson Dilipkumar falls prey to star-worshiping in the worst possible way with Beast, ironically diminishing the superstar aura of Thalapathy Vijay, which has been so effectively used by Directors like Atlee, A.R. Murugadossand and Lokesh Kanagaraj in the recent past via well-scripted fare. Worse still, he reduces a delicate hostage scenario to a ludicrous joke and let’s not even get into the blatant body-shaming and objectification. I’m going with 1 out of 5 stars for Vijay’s effort and his effort alone.

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