It is a Vijay show all the way. Call it an Indian version of James Bond, it has action, humour and little emotions but the mix has gone awry. Pooja Hegde, VTV Ganesh, Yogi Babu, Selvaraghavan and Kingsley among others form part of the cast. Music is by Anirudh Ravichander and camera by Manoj Paramahamsa. Produced by Sun Pictures, its run time is more than 2 hours and 30 minutes.
The film opens in Pak occupied Kashmir where Veeraraghavan (Vijay), a RAW officer manages to successfully execute a mission and arrest a dreaded terrorist. A few months later, he finds himself in the midst of a hostage situation.
He is trapped in a mall with his girlfriend and terrorists demand their leader (who was originally captured by Veeraraghavan) to be released. It is now a battle between the RAW officer and ultras.
Vijay dominates all the way with his mannerisms, punchlines, robust action and humour. Pooja Hegde has little to do. Among the comedians, it’s VTV Ganesh who walks away with honours. Selvaraghavan makes his debut on screen in an interesting character.
While music and camera add strength, ‘Beast’ is let down by average writing. Many scenes are clinched. It has shades of 90s films of Vijayakanth and Arjun.
Though ‘Beast’ is not entertaining as Nelson’s earlier movies, it is watchable for Vijay’s on-screen persona. He holds the entire movie together.