He is not that much like you...

"Unnaipol Oruvan" has been in the news ever since it was announced thanks to the coming together of Kamalhassan and Mohanlal- 2 of the greatest actors of Indian Cinema; Sruthi Hassan's debut as a Music Director and also because it was a remake of the critically and commercially successful "A Wednesday"- A Bollywood film directed by debutante Neeraj Pandey.

Unnaipol Oruvan remains extremely faithful to its Hindi original and scores because of that. The story that deals with how a frustrated common man drives the Police department crazy on a Wednesday and finally manages to kill 4 cruel terrorists is definitely thought provoking and something every common man would have thought about doing at least once.

Add to it, solid performances from an ensemble cast and a technically perfect film, you would not have any reason to complain, save one- Kamal Hassan does not pass off as a common man as much as Naseeruddin Shah did in the Hindi original. His accented English is irksome and he brings in unnecessary heroism in his body language and diction that takes away the simplicity and identifiability from the principal character.

However, this small glitch is more than compensated by the rest of the cast. Anusha Ayyer as the cigar smoking journalist is pitch perfect, Ganesh Venkatraman is a revalation and veteran Lakshmi is completely at ease portraying the Chief Secretary. But, if there is one actor who elevates the movie to another level, it is Lt. Col. Padmashree Bharath Mohanlal who plays IG Nambiar- a soft spoken, duty bound police officer who is out to nab the character played by Kamal Hassan. It is a strong role performed with grit and determination and you can only come out in awe of the great actor that Mohanlal is.

Shruthi Hassan's background score is OK but she scores very well with the promotional video- the song has been sung and shot very well! Chakri Tolati makes a confident debut as a Director but he needs another film to prove his calibre considering how faithful Unnaipol Oruvan is to its original. Camera, Editing, Sound and Art Direction are all done very well and contributes to the overall impact that movie leaves on you.

Its probably the first time that an actor marches over Kamal Hassan in terms of performance- "Unnaipol Oruvan" is a must watch just to see Mohanlal in action, even if you have seen "A Wednesday" 10 times. Strongly recommended!!!