Tamil Starrer Sangathamizhan Becomes Vijay Sethupathi In Telugu!

Vijay Sethupathi(Telugu, Aha)

Starring  Vijay Sethupathi with Nivetha Pethuraj and Raashi Khanna

Written & Directed by Vijay Chandar

Rating: *

This is a joke. And a  great disservice to one of  the greatest actors of  Tamil cinema.  Taking  one of Vijay Sethupathi’s most commercial Tamil  potboilers  Sangathamizhan and  re-releasing it  in Telugu  as . hold your breath, Vijay Sethupathi!!! You have  to be kidding.

The recent  Telugu OTT  digital   outlet A-ha  can surely do better than this. The  film  is  an out-and-out masala  film where  Vijay, by now well- known for his character-transformative performances in game-changing  Tamil  films like  Imaikkaa Nodigal, ’96, Super Deluxe and  Saathikaathi, stars in a double role  as a struggling actor and  an activist  who is  killed  in a flashback.

And no,he is not named Vijay and Sethupathi  in  the two roles. Of course Vijay is  smashingly watchable  in both the roles.  This  actor’s  propensity to mould himself  into any  bend of personality and project the character  completely removed from the actor’s personality, are  on full display here.

 But it’s not Vijay Sethupathi you are watching in Telugu. It is an imposter. Because  the  trademark voice is  missing and without the original voice  the  performance seems fake, unreal. Almost a travesty

A few months  ago when  Vijay Sethupathi had done his first Telugu film Upenna  he had promised himself he  would  only do another Telugu  film if and when  he can speak his own  lines in Telugu.  He felt  , and rightly so, that  getting a  professional dubbing artiste to  do his dialogues is  to take   away considerably  from his  original  performance.

So if you are a Vijay Sethupathi fan,  do  yourself a  favour. Watch  this film in  its own original Tamil avatar. That’s the  version which does  justice  to the brilliant actor. This one, even if you are a diehard  Telugu-speaking  fan of  Sethupathi,is  an outrage. Shun it.