Vai Raja Vai - Fortunas Petrified!

Director AishwArya Dhanush seems to have learnt some lessons from her previous debut venture ‘3’ which started as a charming romance and ended up like a psychological melodrama that just genuflected in front of the audiences to beg for their acknowledgement. With ‘Vai Raja Vai’ (referred to as VRV hereafter) she has kept the psychological element (which is used here more as a fantasy than a condition) in grips but has managed to let go of the melodrama and has managed to pack some action and thrills and has tried her best to give a chic package under 120 minutes (that’s a big bonus).

VRV deals with a story that is age-old. A guy with special powers to predict the future is taken for a ride by gamblers to make a fortune out of him. He is threatened with the safety of his family should he not oblige to the demands of the gamblers. The rest shows how he blows away the cobwebs that gets spun around him and comes out successfully.

The screenplay was absolutely predictable from the moment the lead character (Gautham Karthik) reveals his special powers. From then on we are just left to nudge along with the proceedings. Had this element been kept under wraps, things would have been quite interesting at least for sometime. Adding to that there were tons of cliches in terms of romance, a happy family setup, sidekicks for the hero (Vivek and Sathish) and an outrageous villain (Daniel Balaji). Vivek’s punchlines and Satish's comic timing has worked a bit. That has kept the movie afloat for a larger part. What was the need for Tapsee’s character - just to add some glitter to the malevolence? She hasn’t done that and instead created a vacuum for an item number. Priya Anand, the leading lady was another dead weight in the casting department. She shared some candyfloss moments with Gautham and shook a leg with him for a duet. On the other hand Gautham Karthik himself seemed lost in the role. He neither reacted nor tried to do so. Director Vasanth was a good choice as the hero’s father. And finally Dhanush’s cameo towards the climax seemed to be the clinching factor and garnered a lot of applause.

Music by Yuvan was a major strength and the songs have come out pretty well. ‘Pachai Vanna Poove’ was my pick from the album and it was captured splendidly with Velaraj’s eyes behind the machine.

The movie finishes on a continuum as it promises a sequel. Lets hope AishwArya learns the nuances of commercial cinema from her father’s more successful ventures that had masala and performance elements blended together in an optimum proportion.

Rating: 2.25 / 5

Verdict: Average