Azhagiya Tamilmagan

"Azhagiya Tamil Magan” (2007), directed by Bharathan, featuring Vijay in a dual role along with Shriya Saran and Namitha, is a commercial Tamil action film with a dose of suspense. The dark tale centres on a young half-Indian artist with a rare psychic gift who goes on the run after a vision of himself killing his girlfriend forces him to confront a horrifying reality.

Guru is an MBA student and a national-level athlete who falls in love with Abhinaya, a wealthy businessman’s daughter. Even as their love blossoms, their families’ irreconcilable differences do not go away. When Guru starts to have dark and terrible visions, visions that quickly materialise into reality, his days as master may be numbered. A psychiatrist reassures him that he has Extra Sensory Perception (ESP) and that his premonitions are inescapable. When he has a vision of himself killing Abhi, he runs away to Mumbai, terrified he’s going to hurt her. In Mumbai, Guru meets Prasad, a fellow who is his exact double. When a freak road accident makes Guru comatose, Prasad shifts to Chennai and lives out the man’s life. Prasad is an opportunist fraud who poses as Guru and gains Abhi’s confidence, intending to marry her for her fortune.

Cut back to Chennai, where the real Guru is just waking up and attempting to alert the world to the fraud known as Prasad, but of course nobody believes him. Prasad manages to outsmart everybody and even dupes Abhi. In the course of a fight between Guru and Prasad, Guru unwittingly kills Abhi, bringing to life his foreshadowed vision. He attempts to rescue her, but Prasad beats him into unconsciousness and enters the hospital disguising himself as Guru. Once Abhi admits her love for the actual Guru, this leads Prasad to feel regret for the first time. He tells them the truth and then departs. Guru is healed and is seen coming to terms with life and is seen meeting Abhi again, while Prasad goes back to his girlfriend Dhanalakshmi, who is now pregnant with twins.

“Azhagiya Tamil Magan” is a rich work that integrates action, romance, and psychological drama. Vijay is terrific in both roles, bringing out a sharp difference between the warmhearted Guru and the self-centred Prasad.