10 Endrathukulla (Within a count of 10) - Spaced-out!

Director Vijay Milton had a refreshing comeback through his last venture ‘Goli Soda’ and has attempted to mark his territory with ‘10 Endrathukulla’ which is touted to be a high octane action thriller. Vikram has a reputation of starring in such action masala movies that even gave him a sort of identity during his hay days. But all those movies had a fine narrative element tucked into it. The basic plot was strong and Vikram’s characterization was stronger, which was further elevated by the star with some fine acting and charismatic screen presence. Still I can see those glittering eyes of Vikram, but neither the plot nor the characterization seem to do justice for those priceless glitters.

In his introductory sequence, Vikram propels a sedan at high speed, swivels in the air, stays in the air upside down for a moment and collects a baggage from a man through the car’s sunroof - this sort of sums up the feeling that one would be left with after watching the entire movie. So throughout the film we get these sort of over-the-top action sequences that were staged to showcase the thrills, defying logic in every count. It was essentially a stale mixture of Hollywood flicks like ‘Transporter’, ‘Fast & Furious’ and a dash of ‘Mad Max’ bound together tastelessly with some average performances from the leads and the supporting characters.

The staging of these action sequences were so flat and predictable that one wouldn’t even buy into it as an afterthought. Milton seems to be throwing whatever he manages to get hold of at that point of time, just hoping to be one step ahead of the audience, but unfortunately falls well short. The movie follows an old school template to establish the classic masala structure, like the ones followed by Vikram’s yesteryear ‘Dhool’ or ‘Samy’. There was an introduction song to emphasize the movie’s theme, then there was an item number (with Charmi Kaur) and a romantic interlude number with some montages (thankfully it misses out on a duet). Samantha as the bubbly loosu penn has done her job well and has dubbed in her own voice. She manages to bring in that emotion but settles for a role that could have been reprised by any actress worth her salt. The portions toward the climax that had a minor twist was somewhat of a consolation for an otherwise linear narrative. Oops, forgot about the villains (or the ugly clowns as one can say with conviction)…. there were far too many… Pasupathy and company for the South portions and a bunch of North Indian villains speaking Tamil with a Hindi accent as the movie travels northwards.

The cinematography by Bhaskaran has captured the pace and adrenaline rush throughout the movie. Editing by the legendary Sreekar Prasad was neat, but the graphics and visual effects employed in the action sequences leaves a lot to be desired. Imman, the music director has certainly let down the script this time as neither the songs nor the BGM were impressive. It was cacophonic throughout and for no good reason.

The movie has a good chance of getting premiered in one of the Tamil television channels as a part of the upcoming new year’s special broadcast. Watch it only if you’re a die-hard fan of Vikram, otherwise you can very well give it a miss!

Verdict: Below Average!

Rating: 2 / 5