First things first, Yogi is an exact copycat of Gavin Hood’s ‘Tsotsi‘ ‘a film that won 11 International awards including Academy Awards for ‘Best Foreign Language -2006’. The film won rave reviews across the globe and has been included in the list of 100 best world cinemas. Now the biggest question is that how come Ameer could just plagiarize the film with ease, not even marking the credit.
Well, filmmakers like Ameer keep criticizing the commercial filmmakers showcasing their self-aggrandizing nature. So, they just watch the film’s DVD and add some modifications to suit the tastes of Tamil audiences.
‘Yogi‘ in no way engrosses the audience, even those who haven’t watched ‘Tsotsi”. Preferably, let’s not turn this review into a sort of comparison between the two versions.
The film centers of a ruthful middle-aged ruffian Yogi (Ameer), who does anything for money- Hit the victims or just slit their throats within fraction of seconds’ these things don’t mean anything to Yogi and his gang. Wedged between extreme poverty and memories of his pathetic childhood, Yogi has other side as well, a good human (it’s illustrious with playfulness with snake and rats living in his house).
One day, he ends up robbing a car and finds a baby on the back seat. Brimmed with immense sympathy, Yogi takes the baby to his house. Apparently, his care and affection for the child grows more and more.
Now yogi must confront between the violent life he had lead so far and revive himself. But things aren’t going to happen, as he wanted to be.
On the performance level, Ameer turns to be the frontrunner proving of his proficient approach. He emotes well to various situations: Be the sequence where he shakes legs for the Rajnikanth’s ‘Oru Koodai Sunlight’ or the climax sequence, he excels with perfection. But regrettably, he doesn’t fit the space of fighting like a young lad and Ameer should’ve avoided such stunts (especially the one in first half). How come a rough goon, dances happily with his gang members in the first song and not even share a smile with them throughout the film. Madhumitha does a good job and possibly, this could be one best show in her entire career. Swathi doesn’t get enough footage while Vincent Ashokan is okay. Lyric writer Snegan tries to project him as a great actor, but fails terribly.
The screenplay is so flimsy filled with unwanted sequences. The first 20mins of song and fight sequence is completely unwanted. Director Subramaniam Siva could’ve just dropped straight into the film, right on the 15th min of beginning. As well, the flashback scenes could’ve been trimmed, as the second half seems to be quite lengthy. But, Siva has splendidly established the characterizations of Vincent Ashokan and Swathi on the cause of their marriage.
To be precise, if the film was made within the duration of 120mins, then it would’ve turned to be a passable show. But with a running length 2hrs.45mins, one would really lose their patience.
Musical score by Yuvan Shankar Raja is fine and especially his background score enhances the depth of few scenes. Cinematography is good and editing has been carried out well with stylishness.
On the whole, ‘Yogi‘ doesn’t deserve a watch for its weak screenplay and unappealing quotients.
At the box office, the film doesn’t have probabilities of surviving more than a week.
Banner: Team Work Productions
Production: Ameer
Direction: Subramaniam Siva
Star-casts: Ameer, Madhumitha, Nirmala Periasamy, Snegan and others.
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Rating: 2/5
-R. Richard Mahesh
