Despite few glitches Vijay-Atlee sees Bigil through the goal post - online review

First of all, wishes to Actor Vijay and Director Atlee for scoring a hat-trick and making Diwali and Vijay inseparable like Salman Khan and Eid.

The story simply put is Vijay fulfills his shattered dreams of winning the football championship. That is the one-liner of Bigil which runs for almost 3 hours.

Atlee is known for his non-linear storytelling. He has handled Bigil in the same way but the kind of narration looks half-baked yet it quickly recovers. This pertains only to the first half.

The flashback scenes never look convincing for there is little detail indicating the 7-year passage. Even looks wise, Vijay is seen with the same trimmed beard throughout.

Coming to the 'massy Thalapathy' scenes, in a few places Atlee could have underplayed the fanboy in him, this  attitude of his makes the scenes look too much over-the-top.

Nayanthara has been well used in the second half, so you could pardon her presence in the first half.

These are the only negatives in the film, if you really count them as negatives in a mass commercial entertainer.

Vijay looks convincing both as a stuttering-don Rayappan and football player Bigil. He has to be lauded for accommodating a galore of actors and making way for them to have their moments in the film.

Atlee is a sound handler of emotions and he has once again catered to it. The issues in handled in Bigil that are peculiar to women, the recovery of an acid victim will all be discussed in the film industry for a long time now.

As far as the screenplay of second half is concerned, once the focus is shifted to football there is no looking back and there is no stopping the 'Thalapathy' juggernaut. Vijay's heroism is well within the framework of a football tournament.

The girls win the hearts of the audience with the disparate team's resurgence. Almost each girl scores somewhere or the other in a big star bandwagon.

Jackie Shroff's character arc is predictable. Yogi Babu's dialogue delivery evoke chuckles despite the lines being usual. Vivekh brings smile on the face playing a memoir of the early Vijay-Vivekh combo movies. Kathir though pivotal to the plot point, was so close to being well-written role but he lacks punch.

A R Rahman's music is the cherry on top for this Diwali firecracker. Singapenney's visuals are quality camera work, Verithanam has erupted the cinema hall and looks colourful.

Inspite of these many positives, what gives Bigil a pat on its back is being a commercial entertainer that doesn't perturb the message which always stays as the undercurrent of the narration.

On the whole, this movie puts Vijay in a pressure of giving a movie on every Diwali. Bigil promises to be a Diwali treat for Vijay fans and the general public as well.