Lyca Production’s Lal Salaam (dubbed from the Tamil film of the same name; UA) is the story of two communities co-existing peacefully in a village of Tamil Nadu. The peace of the village is destroyed by evil politicians to divide and rule.
Thirunavukarasu (Vishnu Vishal) and Shamsuddin (Vikranth) are brilliant cricketers in village Murarbad where Hindus and Muslims co-exist in harmony. Shamsuddin’s father, D.G. Mohideen (Rajinikanth), and Thirunavukarasu’s father, Manickam (Livingston), are close friends. Despite religious differences and notwithstanding the fact that their sons are rivals in the game of cricket, Mohideen and Manickam get along famously well. For that matter, Thirunavukarasu and Shamsuddin are also very friendly to each other. Communal riots are incited by the politician’s son to serve the politician’s ulterior motives. The son uses the cricket field to start the communal tensions. Following this, cracks develop in the friendship between Shamsuddin and Thirunavukarasu. What happens thereafter? Are the differences between Hindus and Muslims in general and Thirunavukarasu and Shamsuddin in particular resolved?
Vishnu Rangasamy’s story is okay but it doesn’t offer much novelty. The screenplay, penned by Vishnu Rangasamy and Aishwarya Rajinikanth, has moments which are sometimes thought-provoking and at other times, tender. However, scenes are often so lengthy that the impact is diluted. The message of communal harmony is laudable but the same message has been given in many earlier films. The backdrop of sports makes this drama a bit different from earlier films with similar messages, but the core remains the same. Dialogues are ordinary.
Rajinikanth plays to the gallery as D.G. Mohideen. Vishnu Vishal is good as Thirunavukarasu. Ananthika Sanilkumar gets limited scope as Nandhini, girlfriend of Thirunavukarasu. Vikranth makes his mark as Shamsuddin. Livingston leaves a fine impression as Manickam. Senthil provides good support as Samikkannu. Jeevitha has her moments as Rani, mother of Thirunavukarasu. K.S. Ravikumar is fair as Ra. Satyamoorthy. Thambi Ramaiah (as Kathirvelan, uncle of Thirunavukarasu), Nirosha (as Fatima, wife of Mohideen), Vivek Prasanna (as Raji), Dhanya Balakrishna (as Raji’s wife, Ammani), Thangadurai (as Thirunavukarasu’s friend), Akash Sahani, Poster Nandakumar, Adithya Menon, Pondy Ravi, Amit Tiwari and Kapil Dev (as himself in a cameo appearance) lend the desired support.
Aishwarya Rajinikanth’s direction is fair but she does go overboard at times. She should realise that messages conveyed in short are the best, and there’s no need to stretch things to the extent that they test the audience’s patience. A.R. Rahman’s music is melodious. Lyrics are average. Vishnu Rangasamy’s cinematography is excellent. Ramu Thangaraj’s art direction is of a fine standard. B. Pravin Baaskar’s editing is loose. Dubbing is of a good standard.
On the whole, Lal Salaam is too ordinary to make a mark at the turnstiles.
Released 24-5-’24 at Maratha Mandir (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Karmic Films. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.