Movie Review : Leo
LEO CAST & CREW :
CAST:Thalapathy Vijay
Trisha Krishnan
‘Action King’ Arjun
Sanjay Dutt
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Mysskin
Priya Anand
Mathew Thomas
Sandy
Baby Iyal
Mansoor Ali Khan
George Mariyan
Madonna Sebastian
Jaffer Sadiq
CREW:
Produced by: S Lalit Kumar
Co-produced by: Jagadish Palanisamy
Production House: Seven Screen Studio
Writer- Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj
Dialogues: Lokesh Kanagaraj, Rathna Kumar, Deeraj Vaidy
Music: Anirudh Ravichander
DOP: Manoj Paramahansa
Editor: Philomin Raj
Production Design: N Sathees Kumar
Stunts: Anbarivu
Costumes: Pallavi Singh, Praveen Raja, Eka Lakhani
Publicity Designs: Gopi Prasanna
Sound Design: Sync Cinema
Executive Producer: Ramkumar Balasubramanian
PRO: Riaz K Ahmed (V4U Media)
Amongst the snow clad hills in Himachal Pradesh, in a small town of Theog, resides, Parthiban ( Vijay), a coffee shop owner, along with his wife Sathya ( Trisha) and a two kids, a teenage son ( Matthew Thomas) and small daughter ( Baby Iyal).
Forest Range Officer Joshi Andrews (Gautham Menon), and his wife ( Priya Anand) are their close friends.
Into their world, due to a chain of circumstances, step in the dreaded Telengana bases Anthony Das ( Sanjay Dutt) who is convinced that Parthiban is actually the believed-to-be-dead son Leo Das ( Vijay). Anthony is the owner of Das And Co,a tobacco firm indulging in illegal drug activities co- helmed by good brother, Harold Das ( Arjun). The baddies now descend into Theog and unleash their might into getting Parthiban to admit who he actually is.
Parthiban, known to the village as a peace-loving family man, has to now combat the army of gangsters and protect his family. How does he do that? What is the truth behind his identity? Is he really who they think he is?
The film, a tribute to A History of Violence, has been adapted to accomodate local flavours by Lokesh Kangaraj. The directors' stamp is seen all through the film, right from the the staging, racy screenplay, LCU characters, dialogues and the layers of Vijay's character.
For Thalapathy Vijay, this is amongst his career best performances, playing a middle aged, family man to perfection, right from the body language to the interactions with his wife and kids. He is the show stealer in several emotional scenes with his family and children, which strike a chord with the viewer.
Another aspect that grabs attention, are the stunt sequences between Vijay and the baddies. Right from the coffee shop scenes with Mysskin and Sandy, to the ones in the market place in Theog to others on the highway and in the tobacco factory, every stunt sequence is superbly choreographed by Anbariv masters and executed in a rivetting manner by Vijay. The fights and scenes with Sanjay Dutt and Arjun are to watch out for. Both veteran actors, make their presence felt as do Gautham Menon, Mansur Ali Khan and Mysskin.
The chemistry between Trisha and Vijay, as a husband and wife, works beautifully in the film and has been portrayed in a mature manner, both bringing a gravitas and depth with thier performances. Vijay's scenes as a father make for delightful viewing The family man Vijay scores big time.
The camerawork by Manoj Paramahamsa with different color palettes as the story proceeds, add value to each scene.
Anirudh's songs and Bgm, Naa Ready ( which also makes for superb visuals) and the recurring Badass Ass induced into the bgm, take up the film several notches higher, adding power and punch to the screenplay. Its clearly a hat-trick year for Anirudh who is in top form.
The vfx department deserves kudos for the hyena scenes, another highlight of the film.
On the flip side, the repeated intrusion of the baddies may give a redundant feel. Also, its not very clear what work Trisha does exactly. There is violence all through, (though not grusome). Many characters have shorlived screen time, like Anurag Kashyap for instance.
The lavish making, superb visuals and locations which take on a character of their own, superb stunts and bgm, racy screenplay, crisp dialogues, top notch performances and casting, (showcasing a different, emotional Vijay on screen), Leo keeps you rivetted.
Leo, a fiery commercial entertainer in Lokesh Kanakaraj's inimitable style, keeps you hooked, with the lead star's different avatar, making it an engaging Thalapathy Vijay show all the way.
Rating 3.75 / 5
