![]() ![]() Vijay Antony appears has himself in a ridiculous scene while Vijay Sethupathi from whose point of view the screenplay unfolds is just about passable. Imman Annachi and Mohanram are supposed to be terrifying villains but their effect on the audience is definitely not what the director expected. Ambika as the North Indian judge hams it up big time and Livingston follows suit. Suresh as an hired killer and Upasana as a kind of foster daughter of the protagonist try their best to give convincing performances. Rohini as his wife is the only actor in the film who gives a natural performance. There is no denying that the septuagenarian has exerted a lot physically be it falling in a gutter or getting beaten up endlessly. SAC, a little taller but does carry a strong resemblance to 'Traffic Ramaswamy' which helps in the initial stages to draw audience attention, that is until he reminds you that he is very much SAC by singing songs from his own past films. Does Traffic Ramaswamy win against the powerful or perishes at their hands is what the rest of the screenplay is about. He files a PIL seeking a ban on the motorized fish carts ("Meen body vandi in Tamil), that involves an MLA, Inspector, political kingpin and mayor who make arrangements to finish him off. Then the story moves on to explore other protests by the activist and how gets beaten up often. Ramaswamy's 75th birthday is being celebrated at the house and just at the time of cake cutting a call comes and he leaves abruptly to join in a protest against Tasmac where he threatens to jump from a building top and the authorities yield to him and shut shop. Then we get into his family to meet his wife (Rohini), son in law (Chethan) and his little granddaughter who admires his every move. Ramaswamy is hit by a motorized fish cart and then beaten up by ruffians and left for dead in a gutter. As he leafs through the pages the story unfolds and there is no denying that you sit up in expectation. Traffic Ramaswamy (SAC) like his namesake is a social activist and the film opens with actor VijaySethupathi reading a biography of him titled "One Man Army". Will the film appeal to the masses remains to be seen but it does make one wonder how nice it would be if someone made a faithful biopic on the diminutive but enigmatic social activist. It lacks outrage and treads familiar ground.There is a disclaimer in the opening that the film is not a biopic of Traffic Ramaswamy but inspired by him. Quoting from the film, the best thing that can be said about Buddha in a Traffic Jam is that we love the ideas Vivek brings forth but we are not in love with them. While Arunoday (despite his jarring accent) and Anupam Kher are good, the flimsy story fails them. ![]() The film ends on a hurried note, never offering a plausible solution to any of the listed problems. By the climax, Vivek is fumbling to put across what he set out to say. His limited knowledge of the issue is evident from the tendency to overfeed information. Vivek wastes far too much time in vilifying the Naxal soldiers as anti-social elements. Heroes turn into deceitful villains and Maoists are thirsty for the blood of a young college-goer who is practically of no consequence to them. It is quite ironical that exactly a scene later, he takes a step backwards after being called a Maoist sympathizer. "Make your minds your guns and your thoughts your ammunition," he roars at a student meet. He gives tall speeches about corporate drones who don’t want to change the world. His knowledge of the issue at hand comes from flipping the pages of his professor's research file. His protagonist, Vikram, who calls himself a 'quirky f**cker' is far from being a fitting hero. But his story is set in a posh business school, far removed from the real stage of action. In the first few scenes itself, Vivek makes it apparent that dark ages still prevail in Bastar (the Naxalite safe house). ![]()
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