What happens when three powerhouses of talent meet in an action thriller?

Vikram had everything any director in Indian cinema can dream of; Kamal Hasan, Vijay Sethupati, Fahadh Faasil, and an icing on the cake, a cameo by Surya. A fast-paced action thriller, revenge drama with superstars sounds good on paper, but all that matters is how it is executed.

With mass BGM, style, slick action and top-notch performances by the cast, everything seems to be there to make a pan India or at least South Indian blockbuster. Unfortunately, director Lokesh Kanagaraj fails to keep viewers engaged due to an inconsistent screenplay, sloppy editing, and, above all, the coarse script.

A group of masked men are on a killing spree, killing mostly former cops or government officials. A senior sleeper cop (played by Fahadh Faasil) and his team are assigned to hunt down the assassins. During the investigation, Fahadh uncovers the world of drug lords, gangsters and more.

The biggest culprit of the movie is its inconsistent story line. The story tries to meander here and there instead of being told in a linear fashion. There is a story angle of father and his adopted (or real?) son, grandfather and his ailing grandson, espionage, war against drugs, personal vendetta, etc. Too many cooks have spoils the broth. You can clearly see the stamps of KGF on many action sequences, including the BGM, which at times even mimics Vijay’s recent release, Beast.

Even the teaser scene, which was released one year back, is missing from the movie. Due to the prolonged COVID shutdown, the makers might have chopped off many scenes from the movie and completed it in haste. Poor editing.

Performance-wise, it would be a crime for me to judge the major cast. We all know their caliber, and the director clearly lacked vision to exploit it to full extent. Action sequences are slick and there are too many like in KGF 2. The BGM is well tuned for the action sequences.  There is no scope for music in the movie, but still one or two songs pop up, which are at most okayish.

Everything but the incoherent script and screenplay make this movie underwhelming.