Pulling off a fantasy in a convincing manner by making people root for all the implausibilities in it, is indeed a herculean task and that's where Chimbudevan has failed miserably in engaging the audience with this utopian tale with nothing really unique about it in the making or the screenplay. To be honest, the basic story outline and the characterizations felt like a spoofed version of Bahubali. The former half was at least watchable despite making us laugh only at those unintentional jokes, but all hell breaks loose midway into the latter hour with a narrative that's all over the place with a bunch of terribly misplaced songs that helped only in prolonging the running time.
Vijay continues to be his charming, usual self as the protagonist and his father. Both the heroines Sruthi Hasan and Hansika Motwani as always emote only with their hips via gyrating moves. Kicha Sudeep was wasted. Sridevi—with her Maleficent-like makeup—looked like a ghost than a queen and to top it all, comes out with a loud yet ludicrous act trying too hard to be as menacing as Remya Krishnan in Bahubali.
The VFX was brilliant at times considering the budget constraints, but way too inconsistent on the whole. Cinematography was eye-catching. Music by Devi Sri Prasad was a huge letdown. And the placement of the songs only increased the misery. Editing too was mediocre with a tiring running time of over 150 minutes.
Overall, a hugely disappointing, below average fantasy entertainer that fails to entertain. Guess it would've been a much better watch, if the narrative was more like a kid-friendly comic book than a masala flick.
Verdict Disappointing.
Rating - 4.5/10