Cast: Kavin, Lal, Aaditi Pohankar , Preity Mukhudhan and others
In 2024, Tamil movies haven’t made a mark for themselves as of now. Kavin’s star falls under the same category. With Yuvan’s music and an interesting trailer, the movie had set an expectation but it fell short of meeting it.
Kalai (Kavin) loves cinema and has been obsessed with it since childhood, he is supported by his ambitious father Pandian ( Lal). Pandian understands his passion and wholeheartedly stands behind him to fulfill his dream. From taking pictures with star cutouts to selling Rajinikanth movie tickets, Kalai does it all, proving how big a lover of cinema he is. He goes to engineering college upon his mother’s compulsion but his heart is set on cinema. Along the way, he meets a girl Meera Malarkodi ( Preity Mukhudhan ), and falls head over heels in love with her.
He starts working towards his dream after facing many hurdles, when he gets closer to his dream, life throws a curveball at him which completely shatters his dream and confidence. Will he ever become an actor? And how he finds his way back into cinema forms the rest of the story.
We’ve seen these kinds of storylines in Tamil cinema a lot, how a ‘nobody’ goes on to become the ‘one’. Does Star manage to bring freshness to an existing idea and plot and shine brighter than the others that came before it? The honest answer is no. The problem is that the first half and the second of the film could be two different movies. This coming-of-age drama comes across as very relatable without any surprises or twists, so it becomes monotonous after a point.
Looking at the performances, Kavin backed this film on his shoulders. Kavin as Kalai is very convincing as the main lead of the story and the story within the film, he does justify his role. The other great performance of the film is by Lal, as an ambitious and supportive father, he shines in his role. Both actresses did what was needed for their roles. But Aaditi Pohankar’s chemistry with Kavin is laudable and Preity Mukhudhan played the typical girl who does everything for the guy she loves even if it means hurting herself.
Yuvan Shankar Raja as the music director is the backbone of the film. The “surprise element” was needed in that part of the film and Yuvan’s magic worked throughout. Cinematography by Ezhil Arasu takes us back to the 90s and editor Pradeep. E. Raghav complimented both the filmmaker and cinematographer’s vision.
This Elan directorial is about nurturing dreams and also about the art of never giving up. The second half of the film becomes shaky and tedious at certain junctures.”Star” had the potential to be an exceptional coming-of-age movie about an aspiring actor. But in the end, it was more of a showreel than a moving and motivational narrative of his life.
Rating – 2.5/ 5
