‘Deiva Thirumagal’ (Tamil)
Director: Vijay
Cast: Vikram, Anushka, Amala Paul, Baby Sara, Nasser, Sachin Khedekar, Santhanam, YG Mahendran
Actor Vikram has this penchant for playing quirky characters. Whether it was the mentally impaired ‘Sethu’, the psychologically challenged ‘Pithamagan’, the multiple personality-driven ‘Anniyan’, or the visually impaired ‘Kasi’, he can play any role easily.
Now he takes on yet another character of a mentally-handicapped man in ‘Deiva Thirumagal’. Vikram, as Krishna, is a man with the IQ of a five-year old. The relationship between Krishna and his six year-old daughter Nila, whose custody he fights for, forms the crux of the film.
The film is written and directed by Vijay who had experimented with varied genres in his earlier films, two of them are remakes. ‘Deiva Thirumagal’ could also be considered a ‘remake’ of sorts, as it’s liberally borrowed from the Sean Penn- Michelle Pfeiffer starrer ‘I Am Sam’. The film was already remade (unsuccessfully) in Hindi, ‘Main Aisa Hi Hoon’, with Ajay Devgn in the lead. But here, the director has made a few minor changes to suit the taste of our Tamil audience.
The earlier scenes depicting Krishna’s routine life have a lethargic pace. Krishna takes care of Nila, after his wife dies during childbirth. He has a supportive group — his mentally-challenged friends (who bring in some humour), and the boss of the chocolate factory, where he works. And then comes the twist in the tale, when business tycoon Rajendran, discovers that his granddaughter is alive and whisks her away.
While ace lawyer Bhashyam fighting his case, Krishna fights for custody rights with the help of a lawyer Anuradha (Anushka Shetty). Vikram puts in a valiant effort to portray Krishna. But the actor’s tendency to go overboard with his emotional display affects his performance at times.
The director has extracted a fine performance from his cute little discovery Sara (Nila), who has competed well against seasoned veterans. In the latter half of the film, Nila realises that her father is different. But why her mother, a wealthy woman, married a mentally challenged man, is never explained.
For Amala Paul as Nila’s aunt, it’s an apology of a role.
Anushka gets the meatier one, but far from the role-of-substance of the earlier versions. Perhaps, the director should have adapted the original version while depicting his women characters. But Anushka has made the best of what she has got in this film. Santhanam, as her assistant, brings in a few laughs. The courtroom scenes that could have brought in some interesting, thoughtful moments, are appalling in their flippancy.
And the whole issue, of whether a mentally challenged man was capable of parenting a child, is simplified. It turns into a maudlin melodrama, where kidnapping, intimidation, and comic interludes take prime importance.
But the director has succeeded in squeezing out the maximum emotional quotient from these scenes. Like the audience, Nasser’s Bhashyam, the hardcore invincible lawyer is also turned to a mass of suppressed quivering emotions, as he watches the father-daughter interplay in court.
The director’s finish to the tale is appreciable. It’s a much better and a more sensible finale than what the Hindi version had.
Despite its glitches, ‘Deiva Thirumagal’ is a warm tale that touches an emotional chord at places, and is a different take for the audience.