An MBA student is suddenly able to see the future. A wise doctor (real-life psychiatrist Rudran, with his beard intact) attributes this to the student's gift of extra sensory perception.

The hero, Vijay discusses with the wise doctor his torturous gift and its philosophical import. After that, no one on screen chokes with disbelief!

A few minutes later, we are witnesses to two more crimes -- one in the movie and the other one in its making. A man, who looks just like Vijay (played by Vijay) but not related to the hero by blood, replaces him. Again no one on screen, except for Ashish Vidyarthi expresses his or her disbelief. In fact, all of them including the gorgeous woman in his life keep thinking that the replacement is the original.

These two ideas -- Extra sensory perception, which is at best an unproven, controversial science, and that two persons, not born as twins, can have the same appearance might put you off. But the makers of Azhagiya Thamizh Magan hope that you have left your left-brain at home!

Director Bharhathan (say, what's with that peculiar spelling?) falls short of not just logic, but technique as well. In the two fight sequences between the two Vijays, he ends up shooting them looking at other objects, including the camera, when they are supposed to be looking at each other. Sometimes, the two Vijays are lit differently, which gives the game away. 

The gorgeous woman referred to earlier is Shriya, whose acting is as bad as her looks are good. The only convincing portion of the movie is when Shriya has to act as if she doesn't have a clue on who the love of her life is. All through the movie, with unfailing regularity, she runs into the arms of the wrong man.

In the closing minutes of the movie, Shriya is made to deliver one of the cheesiest lectures one has ever heard on sex and importance of that strange thing called karpu (loosely translates to chastity. No wonder Shriya mucks it up. To act as the embodiment of chastity while looking exactly the opposite is no easy task.

Over the years, Vijay has made a long, arduous journey. In the early years, his father (director S A Chandrasekhar) propped him up as an action icon and later Vijay spent a number of years running in wet sets. Later, movies like Poove Unakkaga and Kathalukku Mariyathai brought out the gentler side of the actor making the masses accept him.

The success of movies like Ghilli and Pokkiri ensured Vijay a place in the hearts of many, especially the college-going youth. Today, the Illayathalapathi, who is on the verge of being crowned as heir to the superstar can't afford to mistake bad science experiments for scripts.

A R Rahman does make an excellent effort to rev up the proceedings, but sadly for him, the songs are poorly represented in the film. If you take away the sheen of the costumes and the richness of the sets and locals, it's appalling how pedestrian the dance sequences are.

Some of the worst scenes in the movie are the special effects sequences. Whether budgets still remain too low for good special effects is arguable.

Namitha, all the few hundred kilos of her, is barely able to lift herself up, let alone the film. Sayayi Shinde and Geetha are wasted in inconsequential roles.

A die-hard Vijay fan might be able to brave the movie, but for the others, this movie can be given a miss.

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