CLAP Tamil Movie Review
Cast-;’
Aadhi, Aakanksha Singh, Krisha Kurup, Brahmaji, Nassar, Prakash Raj, Mime Gopi, Munishkanth. and others
Crew-;
Written and Directer : Prithivi Adithya , Music & Background Score : Maestro Ilaiyaraaja , Cinematography : Praveen Kumar , Editor : Ragul , , Producer : I B Karthikeyan ,Production Company : Big Print Pictures ,Music Director : Ilayaraja ,Song Lyrics Writers : Pa. Vijay, Uma Devi, Palani Bharathi , Sound Designer : Prathap K , Cinematographer : Praveen Kumar , Original Story Writer : Prithivi Adithya ,Action Choregrapher : R Sakthi Saravanan , Banner : Big Print Pictures , , Art Director : Vairabalan & S Hari Babu , Co-Director : Vaddanam Ram esh , Direction Team : Adithya Tangirala, Lokesh Loli, Aravind Chandra, RP Sudhan, JK Sibi , Executive Producer : Kumar Santhanakrishnan , Production Exceutive : Ranga & S. Nagarajan , Costume Designer : Sher Ali N , Pro : Suresh Chandra , Rekha D’one , Design: Yadav JBS, PV , Sound Design : Prathap K ,Audiography : Ramji , DI : Prism and Pixel , CG : Aksha Studios , Audio : Lahari Music , Distributer : SonyLIV and others.
Story-;
Vishnu, right from his childhood, is groomed to be an athlete. Just when the youngster looks set to prove his me ttle on the bigger stage, he loses his leg and worse, also his father in a tragic road accident. Despite the personal tragedy, his love interest Mithra expresses her desire to marry him and the two tie the knot despite his inhibiti ons. Vishnu settles into a mundane job and is yet to move past the incident that destroyed his career. When he encounters a young girl Bagyalakshmi, a budding athlete from Khammam whose sportive interests are not enco uraged by her near and dear, he takes her under his wings and fulfils his long-cherished dream through her eye s.Clap TheTamil film is entirely a sports drama. Aadi Pinishetty portrays a runner in Aspiring Athlete. He is left with only one leg and hence unable to pursue a career in athletics. He then meets a rural girl who is dedicated to fulfilling her Aspiring Athlete aspiration. Aadi Pinishetty want to aid this young lady in achieving her goals. Ho wever, other limits continue to exist. Aadi Pinishetty’s efforts to ensure the girl’s win are central to the plot.
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Movie Review-;
Vishnu (Aadhi Pinnisetty) is a champion athlete who loses one of his legs and his father in an accident. His girlfr iend (Aakanksha Singh) still marries him but he fights with a complex within himself and stops talking to eve ryo ne. But he finds a spark in a girl of Khammam who was about to quit running and trains her against all odds to m ake her win. If Jersey was a sports film that made us believe in the power of second chances and the import ance of never losing hope in oneself, Aadhi Pinisetty’s latest sports drama Clap tells you can accomplish your dreams even without putting yourself in the spotlight. Clap, marking the directorial debut of Prithivi Adithya, is a fine sp orts drama, clear with its intent and sets out to achieve what it aspires to sans any ado.
The film is much beyond the tale of a small-town girl accomplishing her aims on the bigger stage and is also the story of an athlete-turned-coach, who regains his purpose in life after a series of professional/personal setbacks. Clap has got good casting. There are known faces for all the characters and everyone does their part well. Aadhi Pinnisetty should be appreciated for attempting a character that is serious throughout the film. Not many her oes will attempt such characters. He is seen as an athlete who is battling a complex of losing his leg and his fath er. He does it neatly. The director doesn’t waste much time in establishing that there’s no ray of hope for Vishnu in athletics after losing his leg in an accident.
The drama takes us through his insecurities, frustration while he passionlessly goes about his government job and how this toxicity invariably affects his relationship with his wife Mithra. When Vishnu spots Bagyalakshmi, a budding athlete, an underdog in need of support, he’s quite selfless about standing by her side at every step. Bag yalakshmi in fact reminds Vishnu of his former self and the latter lends her all the support she desires, prof essi onally and psychologically. Akanksha Singh plays his female lead and gets a small role. She is decent enough. Kri sha Kurup plays the important role of a talented athlete who hails from a village. She fits the role of an innocent village girl perfectly. Her makeup was natural and she performed well.
There’s no scope for unnecessary heroics, exaggeration and bravado in Clap and the precision in the storytelling is an asset to the proceedings. The filmmaker keeps the dialogue to a bare minimum and allows the drama to do the talking. Even with the drama, there’s a lightness in the treatment and no scene is blown up beyond necessity. Mundasupatti Ramdoss who plays the hero’s sidekick is good. Nassar is excellent in a negative character. Some of the mean expressions he keeps showcase his experience and add value to the proceedings. Brahmaji is okay in a small role. The rest of the characters are fine. Say, even with the uncomfortable silence between Vishnu and his wife Mithra, there’s always an element of mystery in the relationship and the director trusts the viewer to conn ect the dots (and not spoonfeed the same).
The predictable backstory of Vishnu is also only narrated in parts and it doesn’t distract the viewer from the mai n plot surrounding Bagyalakshmi. The conflict in the film is kept basic – it’s about the personal rivalry coming in the way of the profession. The supposed antagonist in the film L Venkatram wants to destroy Vishnu’s career be cause of the humiliation he and his son faced in his hands. At every step, Venkatram tries to halt Vishnu’s progre ss. This is where the intent of the film comes through too – when one door closes, another door opens. The positi oning of a selector as an antagonist is a tad too convenient in a sports drama though it’s a relief to see what Na sser does to the role, especially in underplaying the villainy. Clap has got a familiar story.
Sports Dramas in Indian Cinema is more about the different sports with underdogs placing different problems. Here we have athletics and a former player who had to go for amputation of his leg but continuously battles the complex of it. Another aspect that the team could’ve done better is the sequence where Vishnu convinces Bag yalakshmi to leave her hometown and come along with him. Bagyalakshmi trusts a stranger in less than a few minutes and the two don’t take any time to break the ice either. Even when Vishnu identifies a talent like Bagy alakshmi, he becomes a do-gooder instantly and one wished the director took more time to establish his decisio n. In the quest for keeping the scenes crisp and to the point, the emotional connect feels compromised at places.
On other occasions, the compactness of Clap is its strength. Every character has a well-defined purpose. The firs t half of the film is boring. We have a hero who is suffering inside and there is no movement whatsoever in the st ory. The director enters into the actual business only when the hero goes to the village to meet the girl. The sub sequent rejections by coaches and his decision to become the coach himself form the pre-interval and interval sequences which are relatively okay. Naturally, in underdog stories, the audience should connect to the pain and also get immersed in the journey to victory. But that does not happen. For that reason, we find the film lengthy even though it is just around 130 minutes.
There are a couple of moments towards the end which moves a bit. But they are not of changing the experie nc e.Finally, Clap has a familiar but honest subject. It is backed by some good performances but the story lacks the depth and emotional connection for a sports drama to work.The second half of the film is comparatively better. Winning a race and the treachery that follows keep the audience interested. But then, the racing portions do not excite the audience as much as they should. .It’s heartening to see Aadhi Pinisetty submit himself to the role with such sincerity and earnestness. At no point, does he divert the attention from the story and still wins your heart with his dignified, composed screen presence.
Krisha Kurup may not speak much in the film but conveys a lot through her body language, little gestures. Aaka nksha Singh as Mithra, a sportswoman who genuinely empathises with her husband’s trauma and never overly expresses her care, approaches her part with an assurance. Brahmaji, Munishkanth make the most of their limi ted screentime. Prakash Raj’s screen presence is minimal though utilised effectively. We also find the ‘politics’ portions very predictable. Prithvi Adithya has directed Clap. The story is too plain and predictable as said earlier. A tight narration with some highs should have done the trick. Maestro Ilaiyaraja has composed music for the fil m. There are a couple of songs that come in the background and they are alright.
Probably, there is too much of underplay in the background score department. The cinematography and editing are okay. The production values are to the tune of what we expect from a film of this scale.Aadhi feeling the pain of a non-existing leg is the novel factor of this story. However, the familiar story is not the problem with Clap. Ev en in such films, the director could connect the audience with good emotions and gripping sports problems. But clap could not do that. For every scene, we feel that the story is routine and can easily predict what is comingIla iyaraaja’s songs and music score, excepting the not-so-memorable first number, furthers the narrative seamle ssly.
Clap is a rare bilingual where the makers have genuinely respected the audiences of both the languages and the near-perfect lip sync is a relief to watch. The real surprise package with Clap is however its filmmaker. Prithivi shows terrific maturity in dealing with emotions sensibly and knowing what’s needed for the story. He extracts fine performances from his cast.Clap is everything you expect from a well-made sports drama – fine perform an ces, engaging drama and neat execution. While also remaining in the mainstream zone, there’s a personalised touch to debutant Prithivi’s storytelling. Aadhi, Krisha Kurup, Nasser and Aakanksha Singh live up to their po tential. An engaging, sensible watch on OTT!
This IS MY Personal Review So Please Go And Watch The Movie In Sony Liv OTT platform
Written By- T.H.PRASAD -B4U-Ratting-4 /5
