How many of you who are reading the review of 'Thamizhan' right now know about the Indian Legal System? Alright, you don't have to know each & every law but do you know atleast one law?

Er… don't know? Right! But then, the Indian Laws have rules & regulations that bind even the smallest, most insignificant act of its citizens. People are bound to follow it. And, ignorance of Law is not an excuse. So, why do we have such a level of unawareness, asks 'Thamizhan'.

The subject has never been dealt with before in the history of Indian cinema & it has been done even more beautifully than 'Indian' & 'Mudhalvan'. People mutely witness all the murders, crimes & the atrocities of the ruling parties. Why? Ignorance. Especially, the ignorance of Law.

There is loads of truth in the dialogue that says, "legal education is more important to people than sex education is".

Director Majid's bold attempt to make a film on this subject deserves standing ovation. Vijay's pavers are better utilized in stories like these than in helping 'unexpected' loves. This would probably make the theatres as well as the Justice departments to sit up & notice.

Story? It is divided in two parts - seeing the plight of the workers of Pooncholai Estate (note: it is not 'Maancholai Estate'), playboy Vijay who also is a law graduate becomes a crusader. His crusade is to make people aware of the laws. Each house receives a law book. This creates lots of enemies for Vijay. The result - his sister & his brother-in-law, who were his eye-openers, are killed. The enemies didn't stop at that. Vijay is accused a harbouring terrorists who had destroyed the villagers, at home. He finds himself on the accused stand in the court.

In the House of law, the loopholes are paraded and the changes against him are dropped. Result? Towards the end of the movie, the Indian Government releases a stamp with his picture, to honour this young achiever.

If the strength of the film is its story, the weaknesses are some dragged out scenes. Vijay bringing to court the politicians and Government officials also have wronged the poor people and him coming down strongly on people who are aware of the laws & misuse them - these are some 'marathon' inspiring scenes! Either the screenplay or the editing process should have done something to spruce up those scenes.

Vijay… choo chweet! choo chmart! The lawyers' costumes suit him well. It reflects on his acting too. His expressions in the courtroom scenes have been portrayed well. Special mention goes to the scene where the Dy.Commissioner of Police threatens him. The lock that Vijay gives him deserves the title of 'Raajapaarvai'.

Revathy and Nasser play the roles of Vijay's motivation sister and brother-in-law respectively. The last words of the dying Nasser ('remove the ignorance of law that prevails among the people') is the 'get-set-go' of the film. But there are some exaggerations too -like the scene in which Vijay's sister Revathy shouts at him. The very next scene has him browsing the net to calculate the total debt that India owes to the 'World Bank'. And the scene that follows this, in which people fall & over themselves to repay the debts are all half baked scenes.

Villian Aashish Vidhyarathi threatens throughout the movie. This results in some good stunt sequences.

Then there's Priyanka Chopra, who doesn't have a trace of 'Ms.World'ness. For the first time in Tamil cinema, the hero & heroine fall in love with each other right at the beginning of the film, but don't know how to express it.

Vivek's comedy track doesn't disrupt the story in any way whatsoever. The scenes in which he uses a 4 man with a fractured hand to show the directions is a very, very belly tickling.

Iman's cool & refreshing music & Ekambaram's lush visuals are the film's additional bonuses. Iman's music rules, on the DTS sound system. The 'ullathai killadhey' song & its set decoration is worth mentioning. The dance choreography of Raju Sundaram & Dinesh is soothing for the summer.

There are strong flavours of politics too - the arrest of Mu.Karunanidhi, the confusions in the TANSI case judgments, a deputy Commissioner called Muthuvel (instead of Muthukaruppan) and Vijay's favourite dialogue, 'I'm the Sun'. These forcefully inserted scenes have added intrigue to the story.

'Thamizhan' is a mass film that had well utilized a star like 'Vijay'. The three hours journey that this film takes us is not without its share of bumps & falls. The climax? Would films like 'Parasakthi', 'Moonram Pirai', 'Kaadhalukku Mariyaadhai, & 'Kadhal Kottai' not have a climax? Same is the case here.

Different judgments for the same case? Why are people afraid of courts? Have they ever given a thought about the qualifications of the M.L.A's & MPs? How could one justify the lies that lawyers utter? Director Majid's angry words burn out of Vijay's lips. These words accurately describe the sorry plight that the society is in.

Well done, Majid! Thanks to you for utilizing the power, that cinema has, in making a meaningful cinema like this one.