‘Vaa Vaathiyaar’ movie review: Karthi, Nalan Kumarasamy whip a stale ‘Anniyan’ redux

For implicit 4 decades, until his decease successful 1987, a multi-hyphenate actor, politician, and philanthropist had been a beacon of anticipation for the Tamils each astir the world. Through his films, helium became a vigilante of justice, a person of liberation, and the dependable of the voiceless. As the Chief Minister of the state, his bequest lone grew exponentially. Even today, windshields of autorickshaws, mirrors connected barbershops, radios astatine beverage shops and photoframes connected section nutrient joints sing his praise, and adjacent today, successful the deepest corners of a cardinal hearts, his sanction is etched arsenic a awesome of hope. MG Ramachandran’s storied bequest is bigger than beingness itself. It’s an emotion that altered the destiny of Tamil Nadu erstwhile and forever.

Now, representation this: what if, astir 40 years aft his death, MGR resurrects from the dormant and possesses a bull to combat injustice? This wacky thought, with immoderate tweaks, seems to beryllium the effect of an thought that has driven Tamil filmmaker Nalan Kumarasamy to instrumentality a detour into the masala cinema genre. In his latest vigilante phantasy entertainer Vaa Vaathiyaar(named aft MGR’s celebrated moniker, meaning ‘teacher’), histrion Karthi plays Rameshwaran J a.k.a Ramu, the inspector of the Puliyur Kottam presumption successful the fictional municipality of Maasila (we don’t cognize wherefore they needed to fictionalise the city, but the absorbing titbit is that ‘Puliyur Kottam’ is the sanction of the past municipality wherever Chennai present stands).

His gramps Bhoomipichai (Rajkiran), an ardent instrumentality of MGR, believes that his grandson is simply a reincarnation of his idol and nurtures him with the aforesaid principles and ideals that were professed by the superstar. But an incidental that happens erstwhile he’s young tells Ramu that being MGR doesn’t connection you the pleasures of beingness — you person to beryllium Nambiar (actor, celebrated for starring arsenic the antagonist successful galore MGR films). And so, Ramu learns the subtle creation of cheating cleanly — achieving the means to an extremity with dubious ways — a accomplishment that makes him a one-of-a-kind corrupt cop.

He is tasked to analyse a hacktivist radical called the Yellow Face that has leaked accusation astir a conspiracy involving the Chief Minister of the authorities (Nizhalgal Ravi) and a concern tycoon, Periyasaami (Sathyaraj, with eerie prosthetic teeth), who are conspiring to bargain €142 cardinal astatine the outgo of respective guiltless lives. During this probe comes the astir anticipated part: Ramu inadvertently develops an alter-ego and unknowingly transforms into a whip-wielding, horse-riding MGR who vows to instrumentality down the corrupt enemies.

Firstly, for overmuch of the archetypal half, Vaa Vaathiyaar seems to beryllium precisely the benignant of masala movie that Nalan Kumarasamy had promised during the pre-release interviews. It has a fantastic, quirky set-up, and it is ever amusive to spot Karthi play a jolly-go-lucky and morally ambiguous quality similar Ramu. The pre-intermission uncover makes you wonderment astir however MGR’s benignant of warring justness would clasp against a new-world bid wherever filth runs heavy into authorities and wherever immoderate and each exertion helps the corrupt more.

But then, everything goes awry for Vaa Vaathiyaar successful the 2nd half. As 1 feared from the promo worldly of the film, the MGR persona comes excessively adjacent to becoming a laughing stock, particularly erstwhile it veers into the romance portion successful a country featuring Vaathiyaar and Wu. After utilizing the fashionable MGR songs ‘Unnai Arindhaal’ and ‘Naan Ungal Veettu Pillai’ successful 1 of the champion scenes of the film, Nalan chooses to remix ‘Raajavin Paarvai’ for a opus sequence, but its atrocious placement tests your patience — it’s arsenic if idiosyncratic told Nalan that placing a opus station intermission is simply a indispensable constituent successful the masala formula.

There person been countless films similar Anniyan and Tughlaq Durbar that travel an mean antheral who develops an alter-ego that fights against injustice, and it’s ever fascinating to spot the 2 identities collide oregon converse with each other. The aforesaid happens here, and Karthi shines arsenic a performer successful scenes that diagnostic some personalities. However, the stakes aren’t arsenic contiguous arsenic you would hope, and truthful these moments instrumentality retired similar a sore thumb. Only an oculus disguise and make-up differentiate Vaathiyaar and Ramu, and adjacent if you were to bargain that it’s a disguise hard to ace (not hard for Superman fans), that the antagonists hardly travel immoderate person to figuring retired Vaathiyaar’s individuality is simply a bummer.

Moreover, the high-concept needed a bigger canvas. After a point, each that the MGR persona does to instrumentality connected the villains is… fistfighting oregon warring with his whip. But what much tin helium bash erstwhile helium is enactment amidst specified a stale evil-corporate-corrupt-politician backdrop? Of course, it’s courageous connected Nalan’s portion to talk astir the Thoothukudi constabulary firing incident, but however it’s each woven unneurotic feels contrived, arsenic if it were each astir pursuing a tested screenwriting formula.

The thread astir Krithi’s Wu, which promised a genre twist, ends up going nowhere. And truthful we get thing astir who she is oregon what her transportation with the owl she finds successful a histrion is. That she falls successful love, not with Ramu, but with a persona of a yesteryear actor, without digging into however this happened, raises questions successful you, but each that the movie seems to accidental is that she is simply a wackadoodle.

The climax, successful particular, is simply a chaotic messiness that leaves you with a brain-freezing aftertaste. In fact, the choppy 2nd fractional and the hurried narration marque 1 wonderment wherefore a movie similar Vaa Vaathiyaar had to beryllium conscionable 120-odd minutes. Perhaps Nalan could person salvaged the movie with a country oregon 2 much successful the 2nd half. Of course, we didn’t expect Vaa Vaathiyaar to beryllium a modular Nalan Kumarasamy film, but this could inactive person go an absorbing masala film.

In immoderate case, Vaa Vaathiyaar isn’t a tribute worthy reawakening the tone of the puratchi thalaivar. If anything, what’s genuinely fascinating astir this workout is the thought that an actor, known for playing vigilantes successful films, has, successful a way, done the aforesaid aft astir 40 years since his death. The bequest lives on.

Vaa Vaathiyaar is currenly moving successful theatres