Kaavalan: Odyssey of the Clueless

I agreed to watch this movie on my dad's insistence - that this was 1) "different" from Vijay's other movies, and 2) his famous "comeback" movie.

15 minutes into it and I knew that nothing had changed. I watched Vijay beat up men twice his size and alternate between military man and lover boy while serenading the heroine (Asin in a pitifully dumb role). It turns out that along with Rajnikanth's punch dialogues and Kamal Hassan's on screen charisma, romantic sweet nothings between the underdog and the rich heiress never goes out of fashion. If not for the denims and the cellphones on screen, this could well have been a 1990s, 1980s or even a 1970s movie.

The music is the only high point. Contemporary, to the point and heart touchingly poignant at the right times, it props up the story and the dull scenes as much as it can, and much more. The songs are also hummable.

I know that Vijay and his movies do not cater to us, the urban, English speaking Tamil population. Stories do not make sense because they are not supposed to. The hero always wins, no matter what the odds. Size, skin colour, height and money make no difference to the inevitable happy ending. I know that in Vijay's world the hero and the heroine are young, college going innocents waiting for their true love, and they always will be young and innocent. In his world love is the indefinable feeling that overpowers you when you are not looking. And it always wins in the end.

As I watched the annoyingly predictable story unfold I could not help wondering if unlike Vijay's movies, I had lost my innocence too soon, too fast. Maybe life's ability to stay simple depends on our ability to simplify it.