Who’s your daddy? In a Vijay film, is that even a question?
The debate is over soon after it has begun in The Greatest of All Time, especially since the Tamil mega-star is in a double role. Vijay plays Gandhi as well as his son Jeevan – a fan offering tinged with the knowledge that the hugely popular actor is threatening to wind down his film career for the uncertainties of politics.
Fatherhood is the big theme of Venkat Prabhu’s ungainly movie, whose Hindi title is the awkward-sounding Thalapathy is the G.O.A.T. Vijay senior is an overachieving intelligence agent named after the “father of the nation”. Vijay junior is Gandhi’s long-lost son Jeevan, whose return coincides with another re-emergence, that of Gandhi’s archenemy Rajiv (Mohan).
Alongside numerous throwbacks to Vijay’s back catalogue, strategic cameos celebrate older and current Tamil stars. The feeling of being in a time warp is enhanced by the fact that the Vijays look like brothers rather than father and son – as Jeevan, Vijay’s face has been visibly grafted onto the body/bodies of other actors with the use of computer technology.
Tacky visual effects abound, but the movie’s real thrills are human in nature. The screenplay by Prabhu, Ezhilarasu Gunasekaran and K Chandru churns out the twists, piles on the stunts, and rolls out convenient coincidences while always keeping the all-rounder star in firm focus. Vijay is served well by the 179-minute film, if not viewers looking for evidence of more than just hero worship.
Light on his feet even when trudging through narrative sludge, Vijay prances through The Greatest of All Time with a huge smirk and conspicuous winking. Supplying the promised package of action, comedy and dance numbers. Vijay cries on occasion too, but the tears barely reach his jawline.
Vital support is provided by Prashant, Prabhudeva and Jayaram as members of Gandhi’s anti-terrorist unit. The actresses, which include Sneha as Gandhi’s long-suffering wife and Abhyukta Manikandan as their daughter, are disposable. A cameo by one of Vijay’s previous co-stars has more sparkle than the other women who dare exist in this testosterone-heavy universe.