Uttama Villain is a really good film, and certainly one of the best Kamal movies to have come out in recent years.
The film tells the story of a leading film star called Manoranjan(played by Kamal), who is beset with several personal problems. He is also suffering from late stage brain cancer and with only few more months to live, he decides to act in one last film directed by his mentor, played by the late K. Balachander(who was incidentally, Kamal’s mentor in real life).
The film is titled Uttama Villain which is a comedy telling the story of a man called Uttaman who has dodged death several times and is considered to be immortal. Manoranjan’s character in that film is in contrast to his real-life character, whose health is worsening day by day. After shooting the climax(where Manoranjan’s character kills the villain, thus dodging death yet again), Manoranjan collapses and is rushed to hospital, where he passes away.
Kamal once again manages to stand out with a brilliant performance. He has portrayed the role of a terminally ill cancer patient with aplomb in the past, in films like Vazhve Maayam, Salangai Oli, Nammavar etc., and this time too, he has done the role with ease. He also portrays the role of the immortal Uttaman very well. The scenes where Manoranjan reveals about his illness to his family members, who all repent their poor attitude towards him and get closer to him as a result, the scene where Manoranjan’s illegitimate daughter accepts him as her father and also seeing Manoranjan showing his dedication to complete his film despite his failing health will certainly move you. Balachander, in a posthumous appearance, Parvathi Menon, who plays Manoranjan’s illegitimate daughter, as well as Pooja Kumar and Nassar, who are the co-stars of Manoranjan’s last film, also give a good performance.
However, the performance of Andrea Jeremiah, who is the lead heroine, is quite ordinary. Also, the scenes where Manoranjan’s movie is shown are a tad irritating and you just sit waiting for those scenes to end. The climax of that film, which depicts the story of Prahlada, is an insult to that story as well as Hinduism, with Lord Narasimha being vanquished by Hiranyakashipu instead. Nevertheless, those scenes have good special effects. The music is strictly OK.
Overall, Uttama Villain is a wonderful film which is slightly hampered by a few anti-Hindu scenes and mediocre music. Having watched the film, I feel that it is a worthy contender to add to Kamal’s many masterpieces in cinema.