ALEX PANDIAN MOVIE REVIEW

Alex Pandian- the reverberating name that was immortalized by the superstar in Moondru Mugam becomes the title of this Studio Green’s enterprise directed by Suraaj with Karthi taking on the title role. This is the first time that director Suraaj known for his comic capers like Marudhamalai and Thalainagaram, is teaming with Karthi and Santhanam in an entertainer that has liberal doses of action and humor.

Alex Pandian opens up with a high octane action sequence that has Karthi saving Anushka from baddies and escaping from their clutches. What follows this episode and what construed this event is what Alex Pandian all about.

For Karthi, this is an action flick all through and the actor wears his action garb quite consummately, performs dare devil stunts, zooms in mid-air to bash up the goons, jumps on a moving train, saves Anushka and gives Santhanam nightmares when he plays with his sisters.

Santhanam has become the sine qua non of Tamil cinema and he delivers once again with his comedy antics and wisecracks. For a change, Santhanam is not on the hero’s side but in the opposite camp and constantly explores opportunities to keep Karthi off his sisters which render a large scope to tickle the funny bones. But it would have been nice if Santhanam controls his double entendres as there are many children who are his fans and watch his films.

Karthi sports a Rajni name, mouths Rajni dialogues and is armed with a face that has a high instant likability quotient and when necessary, he can charm you with that 1000 watt smile of his.

Director Suraaj’s forte is comedy that was evident from his previous projects. But in Alex Pandian the comedy ratio is low and action occupies a huge chunk. The first half of the film belongs to Santhanam and the director travels to a certain extent on an even keel in this segment although songs and fight sequences impede the progress.

However, post interval, the film descends on to a path filled with potholes and plot contrivances. There are moments when you sense the film is drifting aimlessly example is the Manobala segment which in no way contributes to the film. It is very evident that Suraaj has lost his plot midway and his narration fails to grab the audience. The non-cohesive screenplay also results in low engaging factor.

The premise is also age old and predictable and some sequences and dialogues are regressive to say the least and are completely unwarranted. With a wonderful and an experienced cast like Milind Soman, Suman, Prathap Pothen and Visu, Suraj could have done wonders but sadly, he has wasted all of them. And Anushka features only in the second half and the beautiful lady is also under utilized and reduced to a mere damsel in distress looking to the hero for support. Renuka as Santhanam’s mom and Sanusha, Nikitha Thukral as Santhanam’s sisters are lively.

DSP’s scores are nothing spectacular and the placement of the popular number ‘I am a bad boy’ at the end credits does disappoint. Technically Alex Pandian does not offer much but for the action sequences which are plenty and are shot quite well.

To encapsulate, Alex Pandian may work for people who patronize formulaic films with few songs, action sequences and the routine content.