Tamil cinema finds its heroes in the most unlikeliest of places. We get them in BMTC buses, in crowded coffee shops, and sometimes, we find them crouching over a Korg keyboard.
Yeman sees Vijay Antony as hero. For the sixth time. Needless to say, there isn’t much expectation from this ‘political thriller’.
Antony has very limited skills when it comes to acting. He broods, he smiles, and he can move an eyelid whenever he wants to. That’s pretty much it.
Thankfully, the hero is not required to do more in Yeman. Even the romantic portions are taken care of. Lest the hero’s eyes betray his lack of emotion, the powers-that-be give Vijay Antony a pair of sunglasses.
In cold, frosty Georgia.
******
Jeeva Sankar, the man behind films like Naan, Amara Kaviyam, told me during an interview that his next film would be about the sea.
Yeman is not that film. In contrast to his previous work, Yeman is a cat-and-mouse game between political heavy weights – Thanga Pandian and Karunakaran (Thiagarajan). Vijay Antony’s Tamizharasan is an innocent bystander caught in the middle of it all, till he learns to play the game himself. Miya George is the heroine, who later becomes Tamizharasan’s wife. Then, there are the usual elements one expects from a thriller. A hint of caste politics, death, death, death, betrayal, death, accident, more betrayal, and an unusual romance.
If not for the ear-splitting music (and sub-par soundtrack), this could’ve been a film one could sit through. As it stands, Yaman is déjà vu material, with nothing to redeem it. Or recommend it.
******
This film marks the second collaboration between Vijay Antony and Jeeva Sankar. They debuted together, and even studied together. And with the evolution of time, both have become somewhat better at their respective fields. Vijay Antony even manages to get a few whistles from the crowd in the theatre I am in. And perhaps, that’s a good sign. Even the unlikeliest actor manages to become a hero after a bit of movie polish.
They don’t call it movie magic for nothing, you know.
*****
The Yeman review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.