Fear and fury of Leo

    

  There is a famous saying that "though countries may not be interested in war, war is interested in them". The same way, though movies may not be in interested in crime and violence, they are interested in films. It looks as though,crime and violence are no exclusions from cinema and Tamil cinema is no exception to this.

   Leo's script carries the fury of the hyena from the start till the end. Lokesh Kanagaraj Universe seems to have shrunk into Vijay's world,with his fear of family's safety and fury against those waiting to harm his wife and children.Vijay's overwhelming grasp of the intricacies of his character formation as Parthiban and Leo,and the way he takes on the emotional components of this double-edged role of the protagonist,provide him with excellent opportunities to rightly exhibit himself as a consummate actor.Vijay is subdued with his bakery cafe wife and children,but roaring when it comes to fighting, be it the hyena or the raucous gang of serial killers and gang lords.But for Vijay,Leo would have been a short-lived piece of cinema in theatres.

  The scene that shows Vijay going into the extremes of anguish in his being suspected by his wife Trisha whether he is really Parthiban or Leo, and the way he pleads his helplessness on being hunted by an identity crisis, becomes one of the most emphatic events of the film not only in proclaiming his genuineness as Parthiban, but also in pronouncing his most powerful performance of role play in the film.But how casually he unfolds himself as Leo in the climax,is his most familiar mischievous segment in acting,that would pull his fans to his side.Thematically speaking.it could also be said after the murder of Leo's twin sister {brief and sprightly performance by Madonna Sebastian} Vijay as Parthiban,replaces the lost sister, as the twin of Leo.

  The entire film in terms of its action sequence seems to rest on the shoulders of Vijay,though most of the stunt scenes leave a pure make-believe factor despite their magnificent presentation. In the midst of the huge cast,carrying a load of actors, Mysskin,Mansoor Ai Khan and George Mariyan,do their roles with a greater punch leaving the two main villains Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Sarjah,take the back seat. Sandy Master does really become a newborn gory thug of Tamil cinema in looks and style.Gaudham Vasudev Menon does a neat job as forest officer and friend of Vijay.Anirudh's music is extremely friendly to the theme and narration of the film,excelling more in the English numbers and in the high voltage 'Badasma' song. This is another special film for the youth- throbbing music maker.

  Forget the saga of crime,violence and the amount of blood shed. Forget the highly unbelievable stunt scenes.Leo stands as the one man show of Vijay and this one-man show is not just an additional feather on Vijay but something more than that,as a fantastic audio-visual feast,for his fans.