Good Bad Ugly Movie Review: An unhinged Ajith Kumar powers an outlandish and fun ‘fanboy sambavam’

ALSO READ: Yennai Arinthaal to Vidaamuyarchi: When Ajith Kumar, the father, took over from AK, the superstar

Good Bad Ugly is a showreel of Ajith’s greatest hits with able support from the likes of composers Ilaiyaraaja, Vidyasagar, and Anirudh Ravichander. While it is high time, directors stop naming Ajith’s character as AK in films, it feels alright here, simply because we don’t expect anything else from a filmmaker, who is a self-confessed fanboy. And there are enough characters in the film to elevate the protagonist, and there is so much blurring between the real and reel that the line separating them feels like a blur. When a character says AK is the only gangster who disbanded all his gangs at the peak of his crime career, it is clear that the makers are referencing Ajith’s decision to disband his fan clubs at the peak of his career. Similar connections can be made in scenes involving Ajith driving a car like a ‘racer’, being ‘handsome’ in any piece of clothing, his recent speeches during the racing season, and more. In fact, the makers don’t want to risk the audience not knowing the connect, and drill it in using the secondary characters and the soundtrack.

Of course, Good Bad Ugly can be faulted for just being Viswasam on steroids, and not getting the emotional core right. Yes, they somehow manage to make a slight impression with the father-son equation, and the irony of their situation, but otherwise, Good Bad Ugly is shallow to a fault. Why is Trisha’s Ramya behaving the way she does in the film? How did she suddenly become such a huge diplomat considering her past? Why is Arjun Das’ hair like that? Is that really the reason for revenge? And why isn’t that reason, which has allusions to a Kamal Haasan classic, not explored more? All of these questions have just one answer. Adhik is a huge fan of Ajith Kumar, the star. And he has done everything in his capacity to showcase his stardom at its finest.

But this doesn’t mean Adhik has let go off the other aspects of the film. Even though there are one too many references to Ajith’s filmography, these are organically woven into the narrative. The efficacy of the same might be up for debate, but there is some intent to keeping it as authentic as it is possible in this genre of cinema. At some points, there might be questions raised whether Good Bad Ugly is a serious film, or is it just a big-budget spoof with everyone in on the joke. The real success of the film lies in Adhik’s conviction of balancing Good Bad Ugly between both these tracks, and it ends up completely engrossing us in the madness.

And he gets to showcase Ajith at his coolest and finest. After multiple films where he plays the prim and proper protagonist with a solid set of values that can inspire impressionable youngsters, Ajith has decided to let it all go. Adhik knows that fans love to see him walk in slo-mo, wield guns with gusto, drive cars in style, perform stunts with conviction, smile a lot, and of course… dance with abandon even if they are not the greatest of steps. And that’s exactly what Ajith does in Good Bad Ugly. Honestly, it is wrong to say Adhik has brought back the vintage Ajith because the star never did such roles. Even when he was doing negative roles, he was backed by a solid story. Even when he was starring in gangster films, they had a strong emotional core. This is the vintage Ajith for those who only remember the highlights reel, and Adhik orchestrates a film that caters to the audience’s idea of vintage Ajith. It is beautiful how Adhik pulls it all off with supreme conviction. If you have any doubts about the same, check out what he has done in the flashback sequence that establishes how AK, a Mumbai-based gangster, became Red Dragon, the dreaded international don.

Conviction is paramount in such films, and Adhik has oodles of it. There is a car chase sequence that seems like a lot of work, and extreme stunts, but when we look back, the loopholes are glaring. But why do we move past this misstep? Because a random cameo distracts us, and shifts our focus from the narrative. Similarly, the moment we are introduced to the set of antagonists, lead by Arjun Das, we know they are going to be no match for the dastardliness of AK. But we are still invested because Adhik packages it as an immensely fun ride replete with songs that kindle our urge to hop on to the nostalgia train. Apart from Ajith, it is Arjun Das and Trisha who get maximum mileage, and despite their earnestness, the film never moves away from being an Ajith star vehicle. But Adhik allows Arjun Das to have some fun, and the young actor gives it his all, especially since he knows it is a thankless role and the only thing he can do is have unabashed fun. Even Sunil is a lot of fun in the film, and it is just disappointing that Prasanna doesn’t get to do much in Good Bad Ugly, except to tick the box of having worked in an Ajith film.

If the nostalgic songs do a lot of heavy lifting in the film, GV Prakash Kumar dials up the chaos with his background score, and the handful of songs that, once again, exist solely to elevate Ajith Kumar. But these references are one too many, as every second dialogue is used to do the same. It makes one wonder if Adhik could have reined it in to allow certain moments to breathe. The equation between AK and his son Vihaan, played by Karthikeya Dev, isn’t established enough, despite the film dwelling a lot on this initially. But whenever the film dips a bit, Adhik throws in an Ajith reference to pump adrenalin into the veins of the audience. And Ajith takes care of the rest with his performance that never misses a beat, and overcomes his biggest self-imposed challenge of playing it ‘real.’ This also means Ajith and Co spout some inane dialogues in the name of ‘comedy’ and well, it makes you wonder if the superstar felt he needed to get this out of his system and satisfy his ‘core’ fans before getting back to the Vidaamuyarchis and Yennai Arindhaals of his filmography.

Even if the writing is shallow, and most of the performances are functional, Good Bad Ugly is wonderfully engaging, thanks to the editing of Vijay Velukutty whose work is the core of the film’s madness. Cinematographer Abhinandan Ramanujam captures the chaos and cacophony with utmost conviction, and showcases Ajith in a completely new light. The technical expertise of the film doesn’t really compensate for the gaps in the writing. However, all is forgotten because Adhik and an unhinged Ajith take us on a ride that is always outrageous and outlandish, but never once stops having fun.

ALSO READ: Good Bad Ugly director Adhik Ravichandran on how his life changed after meeting Ajith: ‘I didn’t have enough maturity…’

How do you fault a film that knows its faults, and even revels in them? How do you deal with a film that serves its purpose of being a madcap ‘fanboy sambavam’ for the ages? How do you even talk about a film that wants to throw random cameos, rope in random talent, and bombard us with references without once stopping to think… ‘Wait, where is the story?’ But let’s be honest here… Adhik’s complete disdain for the ‘plot’ allows him to play around with the narrative, and as we walk out of the narrative with loud noise ringing in our ears, and the sight of a happy Ajith smiling in the bloopers showreel, all we can say is that the good is good enough to forget the bad and ugly of the film.

Good Bad Ugly Movie Director: Adhik Ravichandran

Good Bad Ugly Movie Cast: Ajith Kumar, Trisha, Arjun Das, Sunil, Prasanna

Good Bad Ugly Movie Rating: 3