Director: Atlee
Cast: Vijay, Nayanthara
‘Bigil’ marks director Atlee’s third straight collaboration with actor Vijay, who dabbles with the subject of sport influenced drama again after the iconic ‘Ghilli’ that released fifteen years ago. In terms of the undertone however, the two films couldn’t be more different. While ‘Ghilli’ told the brash, coming-of-age story of a passionate Kabaddi player and his youthful exploits against local goons, Bigil is a story of redemption and more where Michael aka Bigil (Vijay) seeks to take on the very basic construct of society (and also football?!) itself.
Michael’s promising football career did not go to plan. Born to a Vito Corleone-esque father, the stuttering but brawny Rayappan (also played by Vijay), an influential local don, his life is always lived in the shadow of his father’s unlawful and dangerous pursuits. In all fairness to Rayappan though, he tries his best to focus all his son’s energy and attention only on his football. Even small spurts of anger from Michael seem to unsettle Rayappan, who uses every possible chance to drill into his son’s head that one moment of madness would be enough to completely annihilate his dreams and transform him into a person he would never wish to become.
Unfortunately, this moment of madness isn’t too far away. Just as Michael boards a train to Delhi to participate in a major tournament, Rayappan is cornered and slayed at the railway station itself. Michael has no choice but to alight and wield weapons in a bid to save his father’s life. The effort itself is fruitless. The train leaves without Michael. His career as a footballer is derailed.
This poignant block just before the interval was the highlight in an otherwise largely chaotic film. Though the script is spattered with intelligent writing in places, it shoots itself in the foot more than once to really form a cohesive memorable whole. Take this scene for instance where Michael finds his name excluded from the national selection list. The reason-his background check failed. They cannot afford to have him around other national players, say even in a bus, as an act of violence aimed at him could pose harm to the whole squad. I was really impressed with this line of reasoning that broke clichés involving caste or corruption angles and brought a refreshing perspective to the dilemma. I was really looking forward to how this unique conflict would get resolved. Alas, I was wrong. We learn later that this was just a cover and we are subjected to a predictable and familiar explanation involving Jackie Shroff as the unscrupulous Football Federation official and Rayappan flexing his underworld muscles.
Michael does eventually get a second chance. The State Women’s football team urgently needs a coach and Michael steps in to fill the void. There have been many films in the past around a similar premise. Damned United and Chak De immediately spring to mind but nearer home, there was also Kanaa that really made a mark last year. In Bigil too, this segment overall is largely entertaining and is never boring at the very least. The football sequences itself are way over the top to put it mildly. I was reminded more of Shaolin Soccer while watching these scenes unfold and can’t remember even a single goal that didn’t involve a bicycle kick or some really complicated step-overs and dribbling manoeuvres!
Just as you think the director has finally caught the right tempo for the film, we again get a couple of episodes that feel shoe-horned into the script. One involves a married woman from an ‘orthodox’ family who isn’t allowed to pursue her dream of becoming a footballer. This whole interlude sounded preachy to say the least and quite distant from the cosmopolitan settings we all live in today. The other involved an acid attack victim who has shut herself off from the world in a bout of anger and depression. Her story is quite moving and makes you sympathize with her trauma. However, it’s hard to logically fathom how the assaulter could still be roaming around freely, with more than a dozen eye-witnesses having had a clear view of the incident in broad daylight!
As the film approaches its climax, we get another teaser of some extremely sharp writing. This involves a plot to render a couple of key players in Michael’s team unavailable for the all-important final clash. Counter to what you might be guessing, this did not involve any physical harm but rather a cunning design to eliminate them within the framework of the tournament’s rules. But what is again a dampener here is the discovery that this was the result of a highly comical union of two unrelated villains in the story, Jackie Shroff’s and Daniel Balaji’s characters!
Bigil as a film has its moments. The comedy is particularly top notch and really tickles your funny bone throughout. Both Yogi Babu and Vivek are in fine form and Vijay himself laps up these sequences like always. There were also some ‘mass’ moments that really worked. For example, If you excuse the sheer lack of logic, the sequence at the police station in Delhi is an absolute riot!
Where Bigil falls a little short you feel is in its quest to be everything in the space of three hours. Vijay carries this film on four shoulders (quite literally) and without his giant, charismatic presence it would have fallen absolutely flat. As it stands, it works in parts and is a pleasant film watching experience at best. You tend to think that it could have been at least fifteen minutes shorter and still conveyed most of its intended messaging. It didn’t really need to go into ‘extra time’!
Overall rating: 2.5/5
