Whistle

On the whole, Whistle is an emotional sports drama that will surely click with the Tamil audience as it has relatable emotions, Vijay’s star-studded screen presence, and all the needed mass elements. The second half has good emotions and the message shown will click well with all sections irrespective of the language. But for the Telugu audience, the story is a bit routine and such films have already come out earlier. Vijay’s fans will have a ball but for the normal audience, this film ends as a decent watch this weekend.

Whistle hopefully heralds a sign of things to come, a time where the star gets to have their big moment on-screen without compromising on the storytelling. Especially if said star is a mass hero. Vijay is Michael, a football player who had to give up his passion due to a personal tragedy that is a result of violence that surrounds his life. The same violence however later offers him an opportunity to get his life back on track when his friend, the coach of a women’s football team, gets injured and he has to step in. The team is made up of underprivileged women and Michael takes it upon himself to make all their dreams come true, not to mention that of his father (Vijay, again), a golden-hearted don who saw sports as a means of social upliftment. Atlee struggles a bit in Whistle to balance the mass elements with all the drama, but the film manages to get more sure-footed as it progresses, turning out to be an engaging entertainer. There are scenes, like the one set in the police station, that are surely there to play to the gallery. Nayanthara, who plays Michael’s love interest, does a good job and her scenes are fun. The references to other Vijay hits are nicely done and the actor is delightfully good in these portions, using his comic timing and swag to great effect. It is only his performance as the older don, complete with gruffy voice and stammer that feels a bit forced. But he more than makes up for it with a moving scene set at a railway station. Whistle employs all the sports movie tropes – a team in disarray, cold-shouldering the new coach, him attempting to gain their respect, an antagonist (Jackie Shroff as businessman JK Sharma), on-field drama – all ensure that the second half feels like a breeze compared to the laboured first hald. The girls who form the players in the football team get their moments, even if their characters lack depth. Even AR Rahman anthemic score cannot mask the fact that the same holds true for the film as well. It is overlong but the calculated attempt to turn the film into a women empowerment saga works. The film does however enforce the male saviour complex, but makes up for it when a female character, an acid attack survivor, gets the loudest cheer.