Blue Star Movie Review: A well-cast sports drama that’s simplified, straightforward and splendid

Blue Star Movie Review: In Blue Star, two local cricket teams from the village of Arakkonam feud with each other. Right at the beginning of the film, a match between both teams is teased, leading us to think that the entire film would be about that one match. But rather surprisingly, this hyped cricket match takes place in the first half itself, and that too, way before the interval.

The best part about Blue Star is that the film is more than just about who’s winning or losing. Due to that, the film may not necessarily work for those who believe that a movie should be single-minded in its focus. Director S Jayakumar doesn’t solely delve into the film’s protagonist Ranjith’s (Ashok Selvan) love life during the almost three-hour runtime of Blue Star. Even Ranjith’s brother gets a love story of his own. And even the mentor figure, played by a moving Bagavathi Perumal, gets a tragic flashback of his own.

With that said, Blue Star is a film where what you see is what you get. It’s a straightforward narrative that tells the story as it is without trying to be intelligent. It’s not filled with nuanced writing, but the film is very clear on what it is trying to say and makes sure that everyone who watches it clearly understands what is being said. But it has to be said that Blue Star hasn’t completely been successful in its attempt to oversimplify everything that’s going on screen.

Jayakumar makes sure the audience fully understands the sad plight and the humiliation faced by the protagonist. For that, he has characters mouthing dozens of dialogues in which they are putting down our hero and his friends. Even when we already register the pain of its characters, the overflowing dialogues sounds as if it should very much be proofread and given a full stop.

When it comes to the cast, all the actors are solid. As good as he is in the role, Ashok Selvan’s obvious brownface is distracting, to say the least. But there’s no fault in his performance. There aren’t many actors in their thirties who could successfully pull off the character of a teenager, but Ashok does it effortlessly.

His chemistry with a stunning Keerthi Pandian is wonderful, as was expected. Shanthanu Bhagyaraj as the rival team captain Rajesh is earnest. He has a smile that would make you want to smile back, and the director uses the honesty in Shanthanu’s face to the best of his advantage. Also, Saju Navodaya, in his brief appearance, is a clear standout.

Apart from the cast, the clear star of Blue Star is the music by Govind Vasantha. The background music considerably helps in creating the rousing feeling that you expect and anticipate from a sports-centric film.