'The Legend' review: An outrageously silly film

The Legend

Tamil (Theatres)

Directors: Joseph D. Sami, Jerald Arokhiam

Cast: Legend Saravanan, Urvashi Rautela, Geethika Tiwari, Prabhu, Vivek, Nasser

Rating: 1/5

'The Legend’, produced by Legend Saravanan, is megalomania masquerading as commercial cinema. Legend Saravanan plays Dr Saravanan, a foreign educated scientist who chooses to return to his village and serve his people. It is the age-old story of a privileged protagonist with a saviour complex.

The death of a friend propels Saravanan to find a cure for diabetes and this puts him at odds with the ‘medicine mafia’ who were already annoyed with his previous discovery. Saravanan has a simple solution for all the problems he is faced with. He simply beats up people.

At several moments in the film, Saravanan breaks the fourth wall to deliver public service announcements directly to the audience. This technique was used by MGR in the 60s and 70s and abandoned by Rajnikanth in the 80s. It does not help that Saravanan delivers his lines as if he is reading them off of a teleprompter or that the excess make-up leaves behind no sign of expression on his face.

The film features some real legends though. Among them is the late actor Vivek, who is criminally underserved by the script and the direction. His untimely demise may have obstructed the dubbing of the film so the makers chose to use the pilot audio for his character. Nassar is mostly wasted, save for one scene towards the end. Prabhu’s presence is lofty but the script gives him little to work with. Geethika Tiwari’s character appears to be strong at the outset but is later reduced to a plot device to motivate Saravanan. Urvashi Rautela is in ‘Hate Story’ hangover.

Haris Jayaraj’s music does not reflect his best work. Sloppy VFX and over-saturated cinematography are also minuses of the film. A few self-aware jokes would have made ‘The Legend’ a moderately enjoyable spoof of the vintage ‘masala film’. But the film takes itself way too seriously.