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Blue Star Review - This Sports drama talking about social issues has both highs and lows!
Bharath Vijayakumar
The first stretch of Blue Star is quite solid. We are in the late 90s and the focus is on a group of youngsters and the fulcrum is cricket. There is a longstanding rivalry between two teams. This is a predictable set up in any sports drama. But the two teams here are essentially two sections of the society. The members of one team are part of the village/town and the members of the other team are part of the colony or that is how both these groups are referred to as. Before getting into the politics of the film, debutant director nicely sets up the characters. Ashok Selvan has a terrific presence, and we are already rooting for him before even getting to know about the character that he is playing. The romance between him and Keerthi Pandian is one of the best parts of the film and both the actors are really good in their scenes that feel real and lively. Much later in the film there is a scene where we come to know that they never really proposed to each other. That is exactly what works so well here. None of the interactions are what you see typically in our films, but we know that they both love each other and care for each other.
The crux of Blue Star is how someone who belongs to the intermediate section is arrogant and looks down on an oppressed section only to realize much later that there is someone who is actually looking down upon him. He is put in the same shoes of those who he was discriminating all along. This is a terrific premise and a very important one too. The film essentially talks about how everyone needs to be together to fight the good fight against discrimination of any form.
The issue with Blue Star is that after a promising start, the second half is not only plain predictable but cricket, around which the entire film is built on, is never filmed the way it was in those initial portions. In the first half there is a terrific stretch where the backstory of the rivalry between the two teams is narrated. Ranjith (Ashok Selvan) is narrating it, and we are shown glimpses of what happened in a cricket field on a fateful day. You get the tension, the excitement, the disappointment and whatever you need to feel in those few minutes. But in the second half when the stakes are much higher and you have professional cricketers in the fray, the match portions leave a lot to be desired. You know how things are going to end and recreating tension isn't going to be easy but that is not even the issue here.
Something as unbelievable as someone hitting a six using a single stump as a bat against a cork ball, is so convincingly pulled off in the first half. From that to some of the clumsy movements we see in the crucial matches in the second half is a real dampener. The intention might have been to keep it lighthearted and infuse some comedy as well, but it just doesn't work and sucks out the seriousness of the issue at hand.
Along with Ashok Selvan, Keerthy Pandian and Shanthanu do well. Lizzie Antony and to an extent Bagavathi Perumal register their presence. The other major issue I had with the film is the portrayal of the negative characters. Like some of them are literally reduced to caricatures. These guys are literally screaming their lungs out that they are bad. Come on! Aren't they supposed to be scheming men and shouldn't we be seething with anger? We are just left annoyed with their portrayal that feels like they are just wearing a badge that says, 'I am the bad guy'. And what is surprising is that the film has equally good parts where everything feels lived in and the characters feel so real.
Bottomline
Blue Star talks about how important it is for all to get together and fight any form of discrimination. Inclusive fight is what the film bats for. The message is loud and clear. It is the film that is a mixed bag with both highs and lows.
Rating: 2.75/5
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