Vettai Movie Review: “Run”-of-the-mill

Posted at January 15th, 2012 under Featured, Movie Review, Review | Comments

Director Lingusamy tries in deadly earnest to make serious commercial entertainers and partly succeeds in Vettai with Madhavan, Arya, Sameera Reddy and Amala Paul in the lead roles – produced by UTV Motion Pictures. Madhavan is a cop; unwillingly submitted by Arya – his brother and savior – out of every moment of trouble.

Madhavan shivers with the mere thought of thugs while Arya takes all the bad guys on for Madhavan. Before you get a sense of déjà vu, yes, it is the story of Avasara Police 100, directed brilliantly by K Bhagyaraj. This though leads to hilarious situations. Madhavan performs the role of a shivering cop quite well while Arya is a tad better at his performance.

Sameera Reddy and Amala Paul are merely stumbled upon into the script. Both Sameera Reddy and Amala Paul get married to their respective partners later on. While Sameera Reddy expects Amala Paul to marry an America Mappillai, the episode is simply boring and it puts off proceedings. As usual, Lingusamy always comes up with an army of unknown thugs, henchmen and villains. The director subjects the villains once again to the brutal sadism of getting punished by the good guys.

Needless to say, the script again is plain and predictable as Lingusamy weaves only what he always likes, since childhood. It is Nirav Shah’s camera that exploits the colors and the production designs to create a Friday-morning-film effect. Nirav Shah’s resolve to work only in commercial films and not in films that take two years in the making is either good or bad for himself. This time the Lingusamy-Yuvan Shankar Raja combination hasn’t worked wonders.

While Madhavan is being rescued every time by his brother Arya, it is only expected that Madhavan will be exposed either in public or before the villains. It does happen though Lingusamy exploits the situation, when Madhavan returns to his job. Though he gets trained by Arya, as expected, the non-meticulousness of Lingusamy gets exposed when he doesn’t show the innate fear of a novice while facing a tough situation. Madhavan’s flabby waist also puts him in bad shape and positions, as he fights unconvincingly.

A better director would include dialogues at least that show how to gain mental strength in tough situations. Bruce Lee’s “finger pointing to the moon” in “Enter the Dragon” is a fine example. Lingusamy could have created some more situations in which Madhavan would fear the bad guys, even after he learns to fight from Arya. And Madhavan couldn’t have learned to fight the bad guys by merely working out his physique. This is where Lingusamy isn’t as complete as any other. Vettai is also another attempt at getting hold of the pulse of the audience, which Lingusamy seems to miss by an inch but that he is too far; as he is yet to realize that only creativity and innovation are the requirements.

Positives

• Madhavan
• Stunt Scenes (Choreography)
• Entertainment

Negatives

• Villains
• Predictability
• Zero Innovation
• Telugu-styled Melodrama

Verdict

Vettai is enjoyable and entertaining but is nothing new. Vettai – “Run” Out!

Rating: