Cast:
Arun Vijay, Amy Jackson, Nimisha Sajayan
Abi Hassan, Bharath Bopanna
Baby lyal, Viraaj S, Jason Shah,
and others are a part of this
star cast.
Crew:
Director - Vijay
Head of Lyca Productions - G.K.M
Tamil Kumaran
Produced by- Subaskaran
Produced by-M. Rajashekar
S.Swathi
Co-Produced by - Surya Vamsi
Prasad Kotha - Jeevan Kotha
Music - G.V. Prakash Kumar
Story & Screenplay - A Mahadev
Dialogues- Vijay
Cinematography- Sandeep K
Vijay
The Arun Vijay action film, Mission Chapter 1, directed by Vijay, marks the return of Amy Jackson with director Vijay, again after her debut in his film. Kannada hero Bharat Bopana debuts in Tamil , as a villain.
Arun Vijay plays Gunasekharan, whose baby girl ( Iyal) needs an operation for which he heads to London, somehow managing the funds.
But there he runs into trouble and lands up in Jail due to a series of circumstances. He is desperate to reach his daughter but no help is at hand.
In the meanwhile, a dreaded terrorist Omar hacks the jail with some help from treacherous insiders and plans the escape of 3 dreaded terrorists. To his utter shock Omar ( Bharat Bopana) sees Gunsekaran in the jailer Sandra's ( Amy Jackson) office via the hacked cam and recognises him. Its then that the British cops learn the truth , that Gunasekaran is an Indian jailer, a supercop who is familiar with Omar's modus operandi and who will go to any lengths to protect his country.
As mayhem breaks out in the jail as hundreds of prisoners try to escape, does Gunasekaran save the day? What happens to his daughter?
The film is a full fledged actioner and sticks to its action genre all through without any distractions like romance, humor etc, which works in its favour. There is an emotional angle with a child, but it ties in with the story.
The acting of baby Iyal is exemplary and though the father daughter tender bond is shown, director Vijay never overdoes it with any trace of melodrama at any point. Arun Vijay as the tough cop caught in a hard place, is superb. His body language and look is incredibly authentic in the cop persona and every punch he lands feels real. The Anbariv choreographed stunts have a novel touch and though the jail escape and fight scenes seem incredible, when Arun Vijay does them, his physique and confidence makes them feel real enough.
Amy Jackson kicks butt in the film in a role different from the usual. Tough as nails, she gives an excellent performance and has dubbed herself in Tamil. Vijay finds an Indian connect to her character which is a nicely thought out touch.
Nimisha Vijayan as the kind nurse does a fine job of it while Abi Hassan as the earnest Sardarji, gives a good performance. The fine casting is a factor that works for the film.
Kannada hero Bharat Bopana makes a fine debut in Tamil as Omar and the scenes where he matches wits with Arun Vijay in equal measure, are suspsenseful and gripping, as is the climax fight.
GV Prakash's bgm and the father- daughter song is another highlight of the film. The London setting too works well.
On the flip side the length perhaps could have been trimmed. Some of the actors playing doctors dont quite look the part. The uniforms of the cops also seem ill fitting, but these are minor points. One has to stretch the imagination for the escape and subsequent stunt scenes in the jail, but they still manage to be gripping.
Overall, a well cast, poignant, gripping, action drama for fans of the genre.