#STAR Review

#STAR

2024 - Tamil

Starring : Kavin , Lal , Priety Mukundan , Aditi Pohankar and Lollu Sabha Maaran

Directed by Elan 

Plot : Kalai , an aspiring youngster from Chennai aims to become a Hero in Movies. After a Lot of struggles and hardwork he finally gets a chance but a life changing incident throws him back at Square One. What is the Incident? How does it impact Kalai's Life and his Ambition?? Does Kalai beat all the odds and achieve his ambition forms the rest of the plot.

With respect to Performances , Kavin gives a lifetime of a performance. His minor nuances with respect to each stage of life his character arc goes through is utterly impressive. Career best performance. Lal as Kavin's Father is the next Show stealer. His subtle yet powerful performance makes the father son bond so natural and works high time. Both the leading ladies Priety and Aditi get meaty roles but both of their characterisation and arc looks artificial at times. Lollu Sabha Maaran as a supporting artist is great.

Technically the film is top notch. Thanks to wonderful Tracks by Yuvan which elevate each and every scene to its fullest potential . Both the Songs and BGMs are just wonderful. Yuvan Fans have a surprise in the first half.Ezhil Arasu's Cinematography is exhilarating and beautiful. His Montages in Bombay sequences are just wonderful. Pradeep Raghav's Edit pattern and style looks great. Special Mention to some beautiful dialogues by Elan here.

The first half of the film goes on a rapid pace setting up stage properly. Initial College Portions looked good while some regular tropes could've been avoided. Film wastes no time and gets directly into the plot in the first half but is dropped down at times due to forced romance track. Though the track looks good doesn't fit much for this plot. Kavin's Lady Getup performance comes at an unexpected place and garnered a lot of appreciation but its context and post song sequence makes it so awkward as it becomes an advice sequence . The film actually takes off from the Bombay Sequences and the last 35-40 mins of First Half are absolutely fantastic and INTERVAL ends on a High Note.

The Second half of the film is where things go downhill. The Introduction of Second Leading Lady Aditi Pohankar makes the core plot get deviated. Though we can understand this is a set-up for a much larger pay off that helps the character arc move from one place to another, it looks so forced and random and dumbs down the seriousness of entire second half. The Climax Idea is brilliant the execution is also fantastic but the placement and following sequences look abrupt and causes confusion. While the film actually has a decent Romance track in the first half, the regular cliches and predictable romantic tropes used in early 2000s could've been easily avoided.

Elan's core concept is very simple and is completely built around the Protagonist's Arc which tells the story of an Underdog's rise to Fame. His Cinematography vision and music taste is great which is visible as he uses it as a tool to convey emotions. But the incoherent writing and confusing climax causes the audience want more . The Film lacks something but Kavin's Earnest performance and Yuvan's Beautiful Music salvage the film largely.

Highlights:

1) Kavin's Careerbest Performance suported by Lal's Beautiful Performance

2)Bombay Sequences

3)Yuvan Surprise Song

4)Pre Interval Sequence 

5)Climax One Shot 10 min sequence 

6) Surprise Cameo

Overall : Star is a partial baked drama that has Heart in the right place but unfortunately the writing doesn't support it much and collectively is uplifted by Kavin's Careerbest performance and Yuvan's Soul touching Album(BGM+ Songs). With Better coherent writing the film could've almost like Jersey or Mugavaree...

Rating : 2.75-3/5