Vedhalam Movie Review - Thala curry served with salt and pepper!
I understand it’s a late review. I was determined not to see this movie as the reviews were not encouraging. These days I’m quite conservative in watching average movies largely thanks to the ticket prices in Bangalore for non-Kannada films (Rs.200 on weekdays and a whopping Rs.340 on weekends excluding the internet booking charges). However, contrary to the reviews, the box office response for this movie so far has been phenomenal across all centres and has certainly lit up the tinsel town post Diwali.
So I was urged to watch it more out of curiosity than a genuine star pull. In the past, we’ve witnessed so many versions of Bhasha, Kollywood’s holy grail for coming up with a star-studded vehicle to make a statement on behalf of the star that they are here to stay for good. Ajith himself has acted in such a movie (Anjaneya) a decade back, but still he seems to fall for such a cliched strategy in order to please his loyal fan base. Though Bhasha had sister-sentiment, it was just an episode and was a brilliant one. It allowed Rajini’s character to open up and unleash the demons within (Ulle Po - a dialogue etched out for ages).
In Vedhalam, sister-sentiment is the axle on which the movie spins itself. It has been used effectively to some extent and goes overboard towards the climax. In a nutshell it’s about a former rogue turning a new leaf for the sake of his newly found accidental relationship (his sister). He not only adores her, but goes ahead and cleans up the mess that she has got into due to unfortunate turn of events. The reason I’m drawing a comparison with Bhasha is that the two movies share similar narrative elements (that’s purely my perception). They tell a story about a man with a past and in the same vein. First they are introduced as domestic, peace loving men next-door whom we would like to call neighbors. Then suddenly things take a u-turn when they begin to thrash the goons and for a reason which happens to be their past. The magnitude and sensibility of that reason matters the most. In Bhasha it was more prudently brought out with a man who has taken things into his own hands more out of his social outlook that was triggered due to a personal vendetta (his close friend gets butchered at the hands of the villains). In Vedhalam, it is more personal - out of sibling kinship.
Though a social angle can be drawn, it is only through a personal window. In Vedhalam the sensibility factor was at an all time low and understandably so. After all is it not a film exquisitely tailored for ardent Ajith fans? There was a proper introduction number for Ajith, the dumbest heroine (Shruti) who cares the least for her character sketch, a comedian (Soori) who managed to come up with naive and awkwardly modulated lines in order to ape Vadivelu’s immortal acts of genuine comic relief, a sister character (Lakshmi Menon) who can laugh, cry and switch emotions at the drop of a hat and 3 villains who were like trained canines starved to death in order to bark out of their guts. If these are reasons enough to call it a star-studded vehicle worthy of a watch, any genuine movie maker who attempts to entertain people by wrapping in some sensibility would be put to shame. Yes, the movie had some genuinely cinematic masala that worked.
But at what cost? Should we be patient enough to stand these cliches amidst cacophonic background scores? Is it sinful to expect movies dipped in spirited masala catering to movie buffs rather than a star’s fanbase? My dear filmmakers, please have some mercy for the movie buffs too!
Verdict: Strictly for Ajith fans
Rating: 1.5 / 5
So I was urged to watch it more out of curiosity than a genuine star pull. In the past, we’ve witnessed so many versions of Bhasha, Kollywood’s holy grail for coming up with a star-studded vehicle to make a statement on behalf of the star that they are here to stay for good. Ajith himself has acted in such a movie (Anjaneya) a decade back, but still he seems to fall for such a cliched strategy in order to please his loyal fan base. Though Bhasha had sister-sentiment, it was just an episode and was a brilliant one. It allowed Rajini’s character to open up and unleash the demons within (Ulle Po - a dialogue etched out for ages).
In Vedhalam, sister-sentiment is the axle on which the movie spins itself. It has been used effectively to some extent and goes overboard towards the climax. In a nutshell it’s about a former rogue turning a new leaf for the sake of his newly found accidental relationship (his sister). He not only adores her, but goes ahead and cleans up the mess that she has got into due to unfortunate turn of events. The reason I’m drawing a comparison with Bhasha is that the two movies share similar narrative elements (that’s purely my perception). They tell a story about a man with a past and in the same vein. First they are introduced as domestic, peace loving men next-door whom we would like to call neighbors. Then suddenly things take a u-turn when they begin to thrash the goons and for a reason which happens to be their past. The magnitude and sensibility of that reason matters the most. In Bhasha it was more prudently brought out with a man who has taken things into his own hands more out of his social outlook that was triggered due to a personal vendetta (his close friend gets butchered at the hands of the villains). In Vedhalam, it is more personal - out of sibling kinship.
Though a social angle can be drawn, it is only through a personal window. In Vedhalam the sensibility factor was at an all time low and understandably so. After all is it not a film exquisitely tailored for ardent Ajith fans? There was a proper introduction number for Ajith, the dumbest heroine (Shruti) who cares the least for her character sketch, a comedian (Soori) who managed to come up with naive and awkwardly modulated lines in order to ape Vadivelu’s immortal acts of genuine comic relief, a sister character (Lakshmi Menon) who can laugh, cry and switch emotions at the drop of a hat and 3 villains who were like trained canines starved to death in order to bark out of their guts. If these are reasons enough to call it a star-studded vehicle worthy of a watch, any genuine movie maker who attempts to entertain people by wrapping in some sensibility would be put to shame. Yes, the movie had some genuinely cinematic masala that worked.
But at what cost? Should we be patient enough to stand these cliches amidst cacophonic background scores? Is it sinful to expect movies dipped in spirited masala catering to movie buffs rather than a star’s fanbase? My dear filmmakers, please have some mercy for the movie buffs too!
Verdict: Strictly for Ajith fans
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Vedhalam Movie Review - Thala curry served with salt and pepper!
Reviewed by Unknown
on
12:05 am
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
12:05 am
Rating:
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