Police , the dubbed version of Theri (spark) is a Tamil-style ‘mass’ masala. The cop-revenge saga has many ingredients one expects from a mass film — plenty of action, romance, a fair number of songs and a little bit of cat and mouse game. It also tries to be a classy affair and appeal to a family audience.
At the heart of Police is a plot that’s as old as the hills, if you’ve seen Tamil cop dramas, but the man at the helm is young director Atlee, who debuted with Raja Rani . The Atlee-Vijay combination tries to give Police a slightly different spin.
We are introduced to the hero in a small town, leading a quiet life with his daughter (an adorable Nainika, actress Meena’s daughter). He diligently goes about baking bread at his bakery, drives his bike at a snail’s pace and steers clear of trouble. When his daughter is splashed with water by a speeding vehicle, he, egged on by the little girl, gives a chase only to ask the driver to say sorry. Clearly, this is a man living incognito and is bound to have a back story, one that’s filled with action.
The bond between Vijay and Nainika unfolds with charm, the child at ease ribbing him of his overcautious ways. Their conversations are fun, though at places the lines given to the child border on being over smart. What doesn’t gel is the track between Vijay and Amy Jackson, playing a nursery teacher. She sports a funny-looking hairdo and has a poorly-written character where she’s just the tool to reveal the flashback.
In better days, Vijay was a tough cop using brain and brawn to bring thugs to book. Some of the film’s best portions happen between him and Samantha, playing a young medical student enamoured by the cop. A beautiful semi-classical song is thrown in (sung by Bombay Jayashree), Atlee scores in showing the bond between Vijay’s mother (Radhika) and Samantha, and there’s the endearing way in which Vijay wins over Samantha’s family members. The film ticks all these boxes for the family audience. Samantha shines in her brief role while Radhika goes a tad overboard.
The plot thickens when Vijay has to track down a missing techie. In steps the hero’s nemesis, played by veteran director Mahendran. The conflict between Vijay and Mahendran is sinister but engages only in parts. The scenes meant to surprise are a throwback to Shankar’s Bharateeyudu . A number of films have used that thread of a mysterious vigilante hunting down the corrupt. And the storyline of a once-powerful man living incognito has also been flogged over and over since Rajinikanth’s Baasha .
A lot lies on Vijay’s shoulders to pull off this film. He’s been a part of better mass/cop films. There’s a throwaway reference to one of his previous hits, Thuppaki.Police doesn’t have the smartness of Thuppaki .
The graphic description of the plight of the rape victim looks out of place for a film given a clean U certificate.
Watch Police if you’re curious to see a slickly shot Tamil-style cop masala flick.
Police
Cast : Vijay, Samantha, Amy Jackson
Direction : Atlee
Music : G.V. Prakash Kumar
Story line : A cop lives incognito but he has to rise up to his nemesis
Rating : 2.5
