Movie Review: Vaa Vaathiyaar

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 Rameshwaran aka Ramu ( Karthi) is brought up lovingly by his grandfather Bhoomipichai ( Rajkiran) and taught to follow the ideals of the late much revered leader MGR, also addressed as Vaathiiyar whom Bhoomipichai adores.


But sometime in his tweenage years, Ramu is disillusioned by the qualities of integrity and honesty that he has been taught and prefers to follow in the footsteps of villain Nambiar instead, all unbeknownst to his grandfather.

So when  as an adult he lands a job as a cop, he rakes in the moolah following uncrupulous methods.

But one day,  whilst working on an important case involving heavy bribes from tycoon Periyasamy ( Sathyaraj), he learns that his grandfather had come to know the truth about him,  and had passed away, thoroughly disillusioned  soon after. 

Soon, Ramu starts finding changes in himself. Instead of fighting against the good people he starts rescuing people in trouble. Soon he becomes  a mystery figure sought by the very corrupt and  unscrupulous elements he had been protecting.


What is this change in Ramu? Does he manage to come out of the dangers he has landed himself in? 

The film is based on an interesting premise and kudos to Nalan for exploring an unusual topic. 

Karthi as Ramu seems perfectly suited for the role, bringing out the nuanced humor inherant in his character role thereby upping the entertainment quotient. In the portions as Vaathiyar's persona he manages to deliver satisfactorily, making the transformation believable on screen. The chemistry between Krithi Shetty and him is cute on screen , and the duo do a fab job in the  song sequences. Krithi Shetty seems here to stay, with a neat and confident performance.


Shilpa Manjunath gets into the skin of the character but has a very low screen time.  Raj Kiran effortlessly pulls off his role.

The rest of the cast is well chosen. Santhosh Narayanan's songs are peppy apart from being novelly filmed as well.  The production design and costume departments deserve kudos as well. 

The film may seem a tad slow in places but the 2 hrs 9 min run time works in its favor. Those going on with expectations of a dark humor film in Nalan's trademark style, may find that he has explored a different facet this time. 

Overall, the film has an interrsting knot, sentiment, humor, suspense, credible performances and good music with no undue violence nor vulgarity, making it a good festival entertainer for family audiences.

Rating 3.5/5



Actors & Characters

 

Karthi – Rameswaran ( A ) Ramu / Vathiyar

Kriti Shetty – Wu

Rajkiran – Bhoompichai

Sathyaraj – Periyasamy

Anandaraj – Babu

G. M. Sundar – Mani

Karunakaran – Govinda Raman

Shilpa Manjunath – Malini

Ramesh Tilak – Ramesh

Nizhgal Ravi – Chief Minister

Who is Kannan – Madhi Cholan

Nivas Adithan – Nivas

P. L. Thennappan ( Ramu's father ) – Jai Ganesh

Vidya ( Ramu's mother ) – Sushila

 

Technical Group Description:

Story & Direction : Nalan Kumarasamy

Cinematography : George C. Williams ISC

Music : Santhosh Narayanan

Art Direction : D. R. K. Kiran

Film Editing : Vetri Krishnan

Fight : Anal Government

Sound system : Vishnu Govind

Lyrics : Vivek , Muthamizh , Kelithi , Durai

Choreography : Sandy / M. Sheriff

Fashion designers :

Poornima Ramasamy , Egan Ekambaram , Pallavi Singh

Costumes : L. Dhanapal

Makeup : Parivallal

Special Make-up : Ranjith Ambadi

Campaign Design : Tooni John , 24AM

VFX Head : R. Harihara Sudhan

Operating Committee :

Arun Nehru , S. Antony Bhaskar , Sivaprakash , P. Kavin Karthik , M. D. Imran , Saran Selvaraj

Production Control : S. Sivakumar

Production Executives : G. Kamaraj – S. Rajkamal

Production Coordination : E. V. Dinesh Kumar

Public Relations : Yuvraj

Executive Producer : A. G. Raja

Co- Producer : Neha Gnanavelraja

Production : K. E. Gnanavelraja

Banner : Studio Green

Trailer Cut : Selva RK

Audio Label : Think Music

 


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