Bhoomi

Politics have always been part of the Tamil film industry, and the heroes there have used their movies to show their political stand. The superstar movies and the controversies surrounding them always hinted at these stars’ possible entry into politics. So why am I talking about politics and Tamil movie heroes? Well, it’s because of this new movie named Bhoomi starring Jayam Ravi as the hero. While others made subtle inclusions of political affiliation in their films, Jayam Ravi just went ahead far too much and declared himself the Saviour of India. Calling Bhoomi, a bad movie might make the word bad feel like, “Hey dude, I am not this bad”; It’s that bad.

Brace yourselves; I am going to tell you the premise of the movie. So Bhoominathan from Tamilnadu, who is now in NASA, is our hero. Every scientist in the world had given up on the idea of finding life on Mars. But only one guy took up the challenge, and that’s our Bhoominathan, aka Bhoomi. Before going to Mars, he decided to spend one month time in his hometown Tirunelveli. It was then Bhoomi realized the truth that all the farmers were going through a major crisis. His fight to give justice to these farmers is what Bhoomi talking about.

While watching this bizarre movie, I also imagined how Lakshman might have narrated this story to Jayam Ravi. The very first visual of the film is a foreign news channel footage that talks about Martian Bhoominathan. The same Bhoominathan who doesn’t have the popularity of Kalpana Chawla when he comes to his hometown. Tamilan endru sollada thalai nimirnthu nillada and Vande Maatharam are like words that would give people goosebumps. But this movie has overused these two words so much that you won’t want to hear those words for at least 48 hours. The story development here is hilarious. Everything is happening, just like that. The apolitical mob justice mentality of the story is unbearable.

As a maker, Lakshman seems to have no interest in narrating the story with any sort of sense. As I already said, the very first bit in the movie is the Baap of all exaggerations. Within 10 minutes, you have the intro song where Jayam Ravi dances to Tamilan endru sollada thalai nimirnthu nillada and kick some dirt. Then you have him as a pervert expressing his toxic love to the heroine, who has zero relevance in the movie. Then we have this patriotic sacrifice of the hero where he decides not to become the first man on Mars because he prefers to fight for the farmers. What is the state/central government doing in this parallel universe? The first man to land on Mars has left the project because of Farmer’s crisis in Tirunelveli. Terrible PR work from a Government point of view.

By this time, Lakshman is confident that his audience will be mentally prepared to face more torture, and he unveils his inner Shankar upon us. Farmers can become employers to corporate employees, essential food can be transported without the need of trucks, converting small vehicles into shops overnight is very easy if you have Facebook live, multiple atom bomb explosions can help human beings to create a liveable habitat on Mars, etc. are some of the genius ideas that made it to the script from the WhatsApp family group. The cinematography here is obsessed with slow-motion.

Jayam Ravi, as usual, uses his set of expressions to play the character. Well, I must appreciate him for playing such a pathetically written character in a banal script with so much conviction. Niddhi Agerwal is more like an overly paid junior artist in the movie as her character has no purpose in the whole story. Thambi Ramaiah yet again overacted. Being a part of this movie seems like a solid punishment for Radha Ravi for all the misogynistic statements he has made in the past. Ronit Roy as Bhairav Singh in Udaan is a personal favorite. For insulting him with such a caricature character in this movie, I won’t be able to forgive Lakshman forever. And dear Tamil Cinema writers and directors, stop hiring quality Hindi actors to play monotonous corporate villains.

It is actually a good thing that Bhoomi got a release in Hotstar. In the first 10 minutes itself, you will get an idea about what you will have to tolerate in the next 2 hours. Either you can use the fast forward button, or you can prepare yourself to watch a patriotic spoof comedy. If the next installment of Tamil Padam happens, it will be a Himalayan task for them to spoof this movie as it has already mocked itself.

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Final Thoughts

Calling Bhoomi, a bad movie might make the word bad feel like, "Hey dude, I am not this bad"; It's that bad.

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By Aswin Bharadwaj

Founder and editor of Lensmen Reviews.