Don - Rules the youth and the family

Films set in campuses are always one of the most preferred genres by filmgoers of all types.  Sivakarthikeyan, currently the most favored star by both the youth and  the family audiences, has joined hands with debutante Cibi Chakravarthy for the campus drama 'Don'.   Does the film strike a chord with its target ? Yes is the straight answer.

Chakravarthy (Sivakarthikeyan), the son of an overbearing and violent father (Samuthirakani) hates studies right from his childhood.  He has to resort to cheating with his marks to please his father, fearing the beating he gets often.  His father forces him into an engineering college where his rebellion against the assistant headmaster Boominathan (S.J. Suryah) makes him a don among the other students.   Chakravarthy hopes to find himself in the remaining college years.   Meanwhile his high school sweetheart Angaiyarkarasi (Priyanka Arul Mohan) with whom he broke up joins the college reigniting passion.  How Chakravarthy finds his true calling facing the villain at home and at college is what 'Don' is all about.

Sivakarthikeyan has delivered one of his career best performances in 'Don' sinking his teeth into a role that has multiple shades.  He is devilishly attractive as the high school student wooing Priyanka while most of his antics against  S.J. Suryah and the college system hit bullseye.  He scores big in the emotionally charged second half with a moving performance especially when the father-son dynamics are unraveled.  If S.J. Suryah towered with the over the top act in 'Maanaadu', here he is equally effective as Boominathan mixing an effeminate touch to the character.  The ever dependable Samuthirakani in spite of a cliched characterisation makes a strong impact as the seemingly ruthless dad.  Priyanka Arul Mohan brings her charm to the proceedings with a neat girlfriend act and sizzles with her dance moves in both the duets.  The talented ensemble comedy brigade of Soori, Singam Puli, George Mariyaan, Bala Saravanan, Muniskanth, Kaali Venkat and Radha Ravi manage to shine in the few opportunities they get.

What works best in 'Don' is the commendable balancing act the writer-director has pulled off by satisfying the youth in the first half and the parents and teachers in the second.  The noticeable fun moments are when Siva gets both Soori and Singampuli to impersonate his dad at the same time to outwit Suryah and when he turns the tables on the college professors by getting them to write exams.  The romance between Siva and Priyanka works in spite of a few cringy and cliched moments.  The sentimental scenes in the last half hour are moving if you can overlook the sudden shift in the film's tone and the characterizations of both S.J. Suryah and Samuthirakani.  The scenes that take potshots at the college system connect well with the students.

On the flip side the screenplay is not only formulaic but also reminiscent of '3 Idiots/Nanban'.  The confrontations between SK and Suryah are like the photocopy of Vijay and Sathyaraj.  As mentioned earlier the sudden change in the perspective of both the antagonists is a tad difficult to digest.  The film does not justify the close to three hour runtime.

This is the Anirudh season and he has tuned the songs and the background score like the true don he is.  The other technical aspects of the film are strong with Lyca Productions and Sivakarthikeyan Productions leaving no stone unturned to get the grandeur look.  It takes much skill to make a commercial film that connects with most sections of the audiences which Cibi Chakravarthy on debut has managed in style.  He is a promising find to Tamil cinema who deserves a thumbs up.

Verdict : Go for this commercial entertainer that will keep you smiling and at the same time move you with sentiments.