DSP movie review: Vijay Sethupathi’s latest is as generic as it can get

A few minutes into DSP, I knew we have all seen this film several times. It is the same old story about a formidable gangster in a small town giving purpose to a directionless protagonist by killing one or two of his beloved friends or family members. Vascodagama (Vijay Sethupathi) is ambitionless like the movie. With his father’s voluntary approval, he wanders around town and has a good time boozing on his uncle’s terrace with friends. Other times, he is seen ragging a neighborhood girl Annapoorni (Anukreethy Vas). It’s alright because she actually enjoys his attention. So, in a way, our villain, Mutta Ravi (Prabhakar) does a favor to the hero by killing his uncle which propels him to become a police officer. That’s why I like villains of such films because they are at least up to something. It’s one thing for the hero to not have a purpose and another for the film. But if it’s going to be just chronicles of this loafer, he better be doing something interesting.

Unfortunately, the film and the hero doesn’t do much till the interval. The conflict arrives only when Vascodagama embarrasses the villain by thrashing him in public. As Mutta Ravi is a formidable force for a middle-class person like our hero, Vascodagama goes into exile only to return as a cop. It’s not a problem if there’s no logic in a commercial entertainer, but here there’s no entertainment as well. The intended comedy sequences draw a blank. There are a few quirks that are interesting like the characterisation of Mutta Ravi for instance. His self-awareness and moral code coupled with an adequate performance from Prabhakar make him a well-rounded character.

On the other hand, Vascodagama doesn’t seem to have a distinguished personality. Like always, Vijay Sethupathi’s presence makes things bearable, but there is no edge to his character. I couldn’t help but compare the film with the actor’s Sethupathi (2016), which was also a cop drama. It was a great example of how a film, despite its generic storyline, can be enjoyable when it has a personality. Sethupathi worked because the protagonist had great character depth and the conflict was well-defined and immediate. In DSP, everything is loosely-written and we don’t invest our emotions. Hence, when the hero takes his revenge, we don’t get that catharsis.

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The bigger problem with DSP is it doesn’t warrant the long runtime when Ponram is only repeating himself with some generic stuff like underwhelming songs and comedy sequences. Recently, Hollywood legend James Cameron said it’s okay to take bathroom breaks during his upcoming Avatar 2 as the film is too long. He said, “They can see the scene they missed when they come to see it again.” It applies to DSP as well, because like I said, we have seen this film in the past and we will see it again.

DSP movie director: Ponram
DSP movie ast: Vijay Sethupathi, Prabhakar, Anukeerthy Vas
DSP movie rating: 1.5/5