A wednesday and Unnaipol Oruvan

A Wednesday directed by Neeraj Pandey in my opinion is one of the finest Bollywood films to have come out in the last few years. What made the film work, was that the great script, steady direction which took care not to go over the top and last but not the least, mindblowing performances from Nassuredin Shah and Anupam Kher. I recently happened to watch the tamil remake 'UPO' recently. While I was blown away by the masterful acting of Kamal Hassan and Mohanlal, a few thoughts remain in my mind, which I believe is the strong reason for me write this blog. Now, not forgetting the fact that Kamal Hassan is probably the best actor in India, on par with Nasureddin Shah or any other actor for that matter, and that he has handled the most versatile of roles with such ease and class, unfortunately he is not the right actor for this role. Let me write that I truly appreciate Kamal's earnest efforts for taking Tamil cinema into greater heights, I think he has made a grave mistake by casting himself in the title role. Kamal,the terrorist is arrested at the end by Inspector General Mohanlal, now, come on! The biggest USP of the movie is the fact that the terrorist played by Kamal eventually is revealed to be a common man, just like us. Thus, the title 'Unnaipol Oruvan' belittles the whole effort behind the whole movie. And with Sruthi Hassan and Blaaze rapping around how Kamal is 'Unnaipol Oruvan'( Someone Like You/A Common Man) , you already know how the whole plot is gonna be like. However, you have to give it to Kamal for taking the risk of remaking the movie, and who would watch a movie without the usual masala, unless you pull in stalwarts like Kamal and Mohanlal. So, I would say, you gotta be fair to UPO, it is a great effort overall.Though Kamal's UPO is a spectacular effort, unfortunately , the makers seem to have forgotten the fact that a thriller is supposed to thrill.