Review #502: Vaalu (2015)

Vaalu Movie Review

Plot: It is love at first sight for a jobless guy who is called Sharp by friends and family when he sees a college girl in a bus. He also helps her in an accident and tries to befriend her to win her love later. The girl reciprocates his friendship after knowing he was her accidental-helper but informs him she is arranged to be married to her cousin in 2 years. Sharp decides to woo her in 10 days and the spice on offer comes in the form of a rivalry he has with a linchpin of the girl’s cousin in question.

What Works?

• The bonhomie that the core members of the team led by Director Vijay Chander have shared shows up in their intention to bring out an entertainer that aims to provide mindless fun. The delay in production doesn’t show up much in terms of lack of continuity thanks to that.
• STR (that’s how Simbu calls himself now) displays the energy that has earned him the small yet intense fan base and he has provided enough to keep that lot happy performing comedy, action & mouthing punchlines with the ease he has branded himself with
• The supporting cast has played its role in keeping us from getting restless – Be it the comedy that Santhanam, VTV Ganesh provide from time to time or the charming little family of the hero. The director can be lauded for the manner in which he has depicted the father & the villain – There ‘could’ be fathers and villains like that
• The songs, which don’t hold us by themselves in Thaman’s Music, have been put to some painstaking choreography that complements the overall intention of the film. In Suresh’s editing, there are no scenes that cross the tolerance threshold (even if some of the Train/track transitions could have been avoided). Shakti’s camerawork captures the crowd & colours well in the stunts and songs

What Doesn't?

• There is no core story whatsoever and even the love that the hero seems to shower upon the heroine doesn’t look real thanks to his schemes. He looks like someone who tries to woo the girl to win a bet than to wed her & the Day-1 to Day-10 presentation adds to that effect
• The little emotions which could have been exploited with some characters go waste and aren’t handled with conviction. In a film that doesn’t seem to take itself seriously, serious dialogues about family and love seem very odd
• There is too much of meta Mass-hero worship (which succeeds in bringing noise in the house) but all that makes this look less like a film and more like a prime time show on TV

In a Nutshell:

Vaalu doesn’t have much to complain about because it doesn’t have much to write home about. The intentions seem to be to provide mindless fun but in the process, it lacks any story to be told and ends up being a film not to be bothered about – much like the vestigial tail some reptiles have.

Vestigial Tail, Wags a bit!