First things first, Vikram and Sarah’s performances are two of the greatest performances I’ve seen recently in Tamil cinema. Vikram effortlessly portrays (for the lack of a better term) a mentally challenged person. Mind you he is walking a very tight rope here. His performance could’ve easily been overdone and made into an annoying one, but Vikram manages to keep it just on the balance. Baby Sarah . . . what can I say? She is absolutely mind blowing. She instantaneously strikes a chord with you and it’s a pleasure to watch her on screen. Having said that, is the movie good? YES and NO.
This movie is about a mentally challenged father and his daughter. How they are separated and their struggle to get back together forms the crux of the film. For me, DT looked like two different movies. The track between the father and daughter looks cute and great while the courtroom scenes and the struggle to get back together are amateur and lacks everything that you could think of!
The film opens up well and the initial sequences involving Anushka and Santhanam are funny. The flash back is quite clearly the best part of the movie and has some amazing scenes. Although the writing is not particularly brilliant here either, the performances of vikram and Sarah elevate the proceedings altogether to a different height. The movie is super cute and interesting till the two get separated. This is where the movie derails completely.
The second half of the film focuses mainly on the courtroom battle. These sequences completely lack any sort of punch. All these scenes fall flat on its face. Remember the courtroom scenes of A few good men? That is exactly how this should’ve been. Even less impactful courtroom scenes like the ones from veer zaara or the Mammooty and Amala starrer would’ve helped this movie so much. The movie never really picks up till the finale in the court. But that is too little too late.
In the rest of the cast, Amala Paul is strictly OK. Anushka looks gorgeous and has done a very good job. I just wish she had better dialogues to speak rather than the embarrassing lines she had to deliver. Santhanam does what he does best. His sequences are funny and it works especially because he doesn’t have a separate track.
In all, Deiva Thirumagal is super cute when it is simple and turns annoying when it tries to be super cute. This movie has a heart and some amazing performances. I just wish the great performances were backed by a good script, Alas, it wasn’t. An average flick.
My Rating: 5.5/10
-V
P.S: Every time Anushka said VINO (santhanam’s name in the film is vinod) my heart skipped a beat. Fell in love with her all over again.