'Bison' review: Dhruv Vikram takes the cake in this watchworthy affair

Cast: Dhruv Vikram, Pasupathy, Ameer, Lal, Rajisha Vijayan, Anupama Parameswaran, Aruvi Madhan and Azhagam Perumal

Director: Mari Selvaraj

Music director: Nivas K Prasanna

Rating: 3/5

Bison aka Bison Kaalamaadan is Dhruv Vikram's third film. He invested two and a half years to prepare for the role that is inspired from the life of Arjuna awardee and kabaddi player Manathi P Ganesan. Without wasting too much time, we could say that every bit of prep was worth it. Dhruv has certainly exceeded expectations with his performance as a kabaddi player as well as an actor.

The story opens with the Indian Kabaddi team in the 1994 Asian Games playing against Pakistan. Kitaan (Dhruv Vikram) is substituted. The story opens from Kitaan's perspective and travels back in time where he wants to be a kabaddi player. Mari Selvaraj forms this base and brilliantly leans towards penning a powerful storyline of what plagues Kitaan in achieving his dreams. The filmmaker has ventured into a familiar territory from his previous films in terms of societal injustice and in using the colour palette. However, he has extracted the best out of his crew in which Dhruv Vikram and composer Nivas K Prasanna stand out from the first frame. Dhruv Vikram's performance is a revelation and so is Nivas's music.

Meanwhile, the parallel storyline shows the chaos in the village of Vanathi where Pandiyaraja (Ameer) and Kandasamy (Lal) are at loggerheads which directly and indirectly affects the village's path towards growth. The first half is predominantly rustic and emotions are all over the place without much connect.

The second half is where Bison scores with strong dialogues and emotions in the right place. Strong dialogues go well with the screenplay with Dhruv still anchoring the movie with his performance. Lal and Ameer provide more support with their usual acting traits.

Bison is not a bed of roses throughout its runtime. There are things that could have been avoided to make the film crisp. The team should have definitely focused on the lip sync of lead actors. Also, looking back at Mari's previous films, violence and action were justified. Somehow, with Bison, he has gone overboard with violence.

Bison is still a watch worthy affair. Dhruv certainly has cemented his place as a bankable actor with this movie. Nivas will be sought-after for star-studded films after Bison. Ezhil K Arasu's cinematography in showing the rural pastures and getting the angles right for kabaddi matches is another silent positive for the film. Overall, Bison is a strong contender as a Deepavali winner.