Chak De, Vijay style

Combining two knots – one, a relatively less popular game like football with women players and the other, the eternal appeal of underworld crime, director Atlee presents his Diwali release 'Whistle' released with great expectations during the Diwali weekend.

'Thalapathy' Vijay, who has had a great run in the last two years in Telugu market plays a double role – a criminal warlord father and his football-crazy son who finds his dream of playing for the national team unrequited, owing to a sharp twist of fate.

Lavishly mounted and with a run time of nearly three hours to provide an endless supply of super heroism to his fans, the film runs at a good pace till the interval block when the young Vijay is given the assignment of winning the coveted cup.

Of course, it's not easy as the female lot distrust his abilities, given his not-so- clean background and the continuous attacks he endures from his rivals even when he is escorting them to the competition in faraway Delhi.

One is reminded of the Shah Rukh Khan hit ' Chak De India' when one sees the hero pepping up his team members.

Pairing the hero with the superstarni of southern cinema, Nayantara, who has an ill-defined role to perform, the second half is all about how the protagonist wins over the team and their loyalties, putting them through the grind and winning the big prize.

The energy levels of the hero and his appeal remain unchallenged while one wonders whether the father-son duo with an alien theme like football can continue to hold on to the initial draw that the film enjoyed.