Star review: Feel-good, inspirational drama with flawed second half
'Star' is an inspiring, feel-good drama with a flawed second half. But actor Kavin's solid performance, a compelling first half and the convincing climax make it an entertaining watch
Director Elan's 'Star' is an inspirational, feel-good drama on the challenging journey of a young man's dream to become a popular big film star in Tamil cinema.
Elan follows the template of the quintessential story of an underdog but has presented it with aesthetic visuals, and exemplary music. Above all, he has extracted the best from Kavin, who excels as a powerful performer.
Stardust dreams
Kalai (Kavin) hails from a middle-class family. Even as a child, Kalai wants to become a film star all thanks to his photographer dad (Lal), who planted the dream in his head when he was a child. However, when Kalai knocks on the doors of the Tamil film industry in Kodambakkam, he is rejected. Life teaches him hard lessons and Kalai goes to Mumbai to learn acting in a reputed film school.
When he does get his biggest chance, he comes up against many challenges. Can Kalai achieve his childhood dream?
The film's first half is seamless with Elan narrating the inspiring journey of a youngster without any convoluted twists and turns. The opening scene with Kavin as a child convincing the audience that he is Bharathiyar without a moustache is an excellent touch from the director.
Kavin's middle-class family and their hardships are also superbly captured, which is one of the film's biggest strengths. We can relate to Kavin's character because of the warm bond he shares with his lively family. However, the romantic angle (Preity Mukundan) appears to be a little forced although it brings in some youthful flavour in the first half.
Promising star
The real problem of 'Star' is the second half of the film. The idea of bringing in a new female lead (Aaditi Pohankar) and her relationship with Kavin is not seamless. The film takes a detour before arriving at a surprise climax that saves the show.
As a performer, Kavin stands tall in 'Star'. The way he performs in the emotionally hard-hitting scenes make us root for him. He is one of the most talented actors to watch out for in Tamil cinema.
Kavin also has the charm and all the makings of a star. So, after a long gap, we may just have a promising young actor in Tamil cinema!
After Kavin, Geetha Kailasam (K Balachander's daughter-in-law)'s performance stands out. Though the film is focussed on the dad and son's joint dream, the director has given more scope for the mother's character. It is because of her we feel more for the hardships of Kavin and his middle-class family!
Lal, the seasoned performer is just passable in the film so are the two female leads Preity Mukundan and Aaditi Pohankar.
After a long time, Yuvan Shankar Raja has been given a film that suits the style of his background score and the composer makes no mistake here, he has done complete justice. As a matter of fact, the music elevates the film whenever the pace and content dips.
Flawed second half
Another challenge is the runtime, which is a tad too long. Also, is it necessary to have two female leads in the film? If the same Preity Mukundan character came in the second half instead of introducing a new character, it may have looked more organic.
Also, the director took too much time to return to the main conflict (protagonist's dream) in the second half. Nevertheless, Elan's writing is good in the emotionally moving scenes, and he seems to know how to connect with the audience through his strong writing. And he maintains the emotional undercurrent throughout the film.
The film could have been trimmed by at least fifteen minutes in the second half, as the screenplay is directionless in the initial portions of the latter half.
In a nutshell, 'Star' is an inspiring feel-good drama with a flawed second half. But the compelling first half, Kavin's excellent performance, and the convincing climax make up for it and the film turns out to be good.