Review Lee - Kick click
Saturday, February 17, 2007
‘Sporting’ ideas and Tamil
cinema rarely go hand in hand. Forget a Lagaan kind of magnum opus or an
Iqbal, even smaller level of sporting theme-based scripts have been rare.
So when Lee is made with a football-team-centered story, one had some initial
misgivings.
But Prabhu Solomon, the nifty
director, has used the motif of a soccer team, symbolizing the values of
camaraderie, honesty and healthy rivalry, and has fused this into a larger
canvas of revenge drama. The director’s ingenuity is in making this work.
Solomon also needs to thank Sibiraj and Prakash Raj for making the movie
tick with conviction. The young hero, looking for a major break, has done
all that he could possibly do. Prakash Raj as the coach is remarkable.
Quite simply, his success is in his ability to make us think that nobody
else in Tamil could have played this character.
Leelatharan, Lee to his friends
(Sibiraj), hangs out with a bunch of merry youth who do practically any
work and play football in other times. It is a strong-willed and thick-tied
group. Chellam (Nila), a worker in a facility for the mentally-challenged,
is also kind of a groupie. Life is all merry and mirth till she espies
Lee & co, attempting an assassination of sorts on a Minister. The bid
fails, but Chellam is shocked and so are we. Why would this bunch want
to take a crack at the murky world of politics?
Well, the answer unspools
back into a college where Lee and his team are raring to go as footballers.
They have a committed mentor in Butthiran (Prakash Raj). Though a coach,
he is a friend, philosopher and guide kind of omnibus figure for the youngsters.
Just when the boys are making the right progress, problem erupts in the
form of Rangabashyam (Jahir). He is a scumbag, but is also the principal
of the college and he wants his son to be in this all-conquering team.
The coach, with Chappellesque
firmness, says no to this and wants to pick his team on merit. But the
principal kicks out the team with its coach out of the college itself.
So they gravitate towards another college and again start doing well as
a team. And when they win a big and prestigious tournament, Rangabashyam
throws up a major spanner in the works.
He scuttles the rise of Lee
and co. The stifling is so bad that one member commits suicide and the
team slowly disintegrates, while on the other hand, Rangabashyam rises
up in the big bad world of politics. He ends up as a Minister.
Now the circle is complete.
So the question, what happens to the rivalry of Rangabashyam and Lee and
his team. And does Chellam understand the rationale behind Lee’s actions?
The story strikes a major
blow for the state of sports and sportspersons in our villages, who have
to contend with innumerable Rangabashyams and sundry other hurdles. The
heart of the story is this and it is a very vital one in these times, when
sporting victories are deemed to reflect and underline a nation’s feel-good
emotions.
Sibiraj, as he has been saying,
has given it all. The hapless and helpless youngster with dream in the
eyes and fire in the belly comes alive in his wiry, battle-hardened frame.
Sibi’s eyes reflect the passion and pride for sports and the larger idea
of playing the game (of life) fair and straight.
Nila’s character has many
soft and mirthy undertones and she fills into it adequately. The comical
situations with her are quite good.
The integrity is showed up
in the performance of Prakash Raj. The role is suffused with heroism as
it backs the underdogs. And Prakash Raj elevates it to an even higher plane
with a kind of show that he alone in contemporary Tamil cinema can play.
Imman is very good in music
and even more so in the background score. He is not loud, mercifully. Rajesh’s
camera is very sturdy and brings alive the drama and intensity of a sporting
game.
Solomon’s direction is good
in two parts. One, in sticking to his base and two, in going beyond that.
He has mixed a simple revenge story and the odds stacked up against the
underdogs of the system and has created a moral fable for our times.
Lee certainly has its goal
right.
Preview
Veteran actor and a caring
father, Satyaraj is producing Lee which stars his son Sibiraj in the lead
role. Prabhu Solomon, who had done a racy action in Kokki earlier, is directing
the film. Sibiraj plays Leeladharan alias Lee, a professional football
player. Nila plays the female lead. Prakash Raj plays the football coach
in the movie.
Says Sibiraj, “I prepared
myself for the role with great difficulty. I ensured that I looked different
and changed my mannerism a lot. I grew long hair and beard too.”
Since Sibiraj plays a footballer,
he underwent football coaching at the YMCA every evening. Director Solomon
shot a major portion of Lee in the busy roads of Chennai. The movie was
shot in the busy roads without the public even being aware of it.
Though Sibi plays a footballer,
the movie does not deal about the sport. “It is an action-thriller,” Solomon
says and adds, “The whole crew has worked hard for the movie's success
and Prakash Raj especially, has done a fabulous job.”
Music by Imman is a major
highlight. “The songs have come out really well,” he adds. Interestingly,
Sathyaraj's Periyar and his son's Lee will be released simultaneously on
2 February.
On competing with his father,
Sibiraj says, “We are happy to see our films compete with each other. I
feel it is a healthy competition.”
“Though I have done several
movies before, Lee is close to my heart as Prabhu Solomon managed to get
the best out of me,” says Sibiraj.
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