Lee The Movie

Lee is a kind of film which is uncommon these days when romantic stories have become the staple. The story is cantered on a sport and its challenges and Director Prabhu Solomon has by his deft handling of the story, made it an interesting drama of passion, envy, rivalry and revenge. The team spirit, friendship and fairness eventually win the day. Lee is the first film produced by veteran actor Sathyaraj who has strained his every nerve to impart the glitz and grandeur to the film to make it special. His son, Sibiraj, plays the lead role. 'Sporting' ideas and Tamil cinema rarely go hand in hand. Forget a Lagaan kind of magnum opus or an Iqbal, even smaller level of sporting theme-based scripts have been rare. So when Lee is made with a football-team-cantered story, one had some initial misgivings. But Prabhu Solomon, the nifty director, has used the motif of a soccer team, symbolizing the values of camaraderie, honesty and healthy rivalry, and has fused this into a larger canvas of revenge drama. The director's ingenuity is in making this work. Solomon also needs to thank Sibiraj and Prakash Raj for making the movie tick with conviction. The young hero, looking for a major break, has done all that he could possibly do. Prakash Raj as the coach is remarkable. Quite simply, his success is in his ability to make us think that nobody else in Tamil could have played this character. Sibiraj, as he has been saying, has given it all. The hapless and helpless youngster with dream in the eyes and fire in the belly comes alive in his wiry, battle-hardened frame. Sibi's eyes reflect the passion and pride for sports and the larger idea of playing the game (of life) fair and straight. The integrity is showed up in the performance of Prakash Raj. The role is suffused with heroism as it backs the underdogs. And Prakash Raj elevates it to an even higher plane with a kind of show that he alone in contemporary Tamil cinema can play. A genuine effort by the team but didn’t do well in the box office.