Vijay Antony, is back to the silver screen once again after, his sleeper-hit debut, 'Naan'. Jointly produced by, his wife Fatima Vijay Antony and others, Vijay Antony borrows his previous character's pseudonym as the titular character for this new flick and has introduced another debutante director, N.V Nirmalkumar, a former associate of Bharathi Raja. Can Vijay Antony reproduce the same success of 'Naan' with 'Salim' ?
In 'Naan', Vijay Antony's subdued character complemented his image and he passes muster comfortably. He carries the same performance in 'Salim' and there's literally not much of difference, be it in voice modulation, facial expression, dialogue delivery and etc. It suits him and he looks a little more comfortable, but it will definitely can't last longer than this. Aksha Pardasany has very minimal scope for acting and there's nothing to shout about, regarding her character. The rest of the cast such as R.N.R Manohar, Swaminathan, Aruldass, Azmath Shariff, Jayachandran, Ramanathan, Jyothi and etc are there to fill up the necessities of the script. Its an out-and-out Vijay Antony show !
The film's technical output is just average and passes muster. 'Billa' Jagan takes care of the action choreography and his work complements the stature of Vijay Antony and his character. The second half packs, all the stunt sequences and the hotel room fight scene is the highlight of them all. Kudos to Vijay Antony for pulling them off efficiently. Vinod Raveendran and Anand Raj is in charge of art direction and they have done a decent job, especially with the set properties for the homes of the characters shown in the film. Also, the continuity for the hotel room sequence should be mentioned, for the realistic look. The editing department is taken care by three editors, who are M.V Rajesh Kumar, Veerasenthil and Selva. The editing was okay, but some cuts were just too obtrusive and lacks coherence. The duration of the film needs severe editing, especially with the slow pace of the first half ! Cinematography by M.C Ganesh Chandra looks decent, especially with the lighting and color tone used, which complemented the mood of the scenes, especially for the second half.
Vijay Antony's musical score was a disappointment. The fizz and groove in 'Naan' is missing here and the songs, are just a hindrance for the screenplay. "Prayer" theme was used as a ringtone sound of the protagonist. "Unnai Kanda" is a melody shot on the lead pair and has a very picturesque location of sea-side and desert. The panoramic camera angles, gave the song a music video feel and the lighting gave the song a very good color. "Avala Nambithaan" is a situational song, with montages of the lead pair and a cameo appearance from Premgi Amaren, in the beginning shots of the song. The base of the song, is lifted from the M.S Viswanathan's 'Ninaithaale Inikkum' classic, "Siva Sambo". "Unnai Kanda" has a reprise version, this time in a sad mood, which serves as a bit song. "Mascara Pottu" is a typical item number, which was well shot by M.C Ganesh Chandra, who gave the song, with above average visuals aided by apt lighting and color tone. "Ulagam Unnai" is a situational song, and comes right before the climax and was shot on Vijay Antony, in a hotel room. The background score resembles 'Naan' background score, wherein Vijay Antony used the same hook-line sounds. It complements the mood of the sequences, but other than that, there's nothing impressive in it.
N.V Nirmalkumar's screenplay has a very simple outlay. First half would be character establishment and second half is where the action takes centre stage. The plan is an easy way to tell a story, but the pace of the screenplay takes severe beating ! The first half is entirely taken to establish the good side of Salim, whereas the second half is all about how Salim meets his breaking point and the retaliation towards the injustice of the society. The second half actually keeps us focused and is more gripping, but the plot has no organic development and everything seems to happen just like that, with no explanation given. The characterization of Salim, which is the utmost important element of the script, is very much unconvincing and it fails to border the reality. The character is very one dimensional in the first half, and as audiences, we too will not root for such a character ! The dialogues too are just very average and it fails to ignite any spark due to average dialogue delivery by Vijay Antony. Quite a few characters appear and disappear for no reasons and the whole film rests on Vijay Antony's shoulders. It looks like the director has taken the basic thread from 'Naan' but has made the titular character be more of like a vigilante, in the second half. The sort of cliffhanger ending suggests us with the possibility of a sequel, but unless someone comes up with a decent script, the idea is of no use !
'Salim' - A less impressive evolutionary sequel to 'Naan' !
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
It's the 25th film for Dhanush and the star really needs a hit in Tamizh because his 'Mariyaan' was an average affair whereas 'Naiyaandi' was just one of his worst film's to date. Produced under his own home banner Wunderbar Films, this is the directorial debut for cinematographer R.Velraj and the music is already a blockbuster hit, coming from none other than Anirudh Ravichander. With everything hitting the right notes, can Dhanush pull off a hit with his silver jubilee 'Velaiilla Pattadhari' ?
Being the titular character, Dhanush carries the whole film on his shoulder and he is nearly there in every frame ! Its and out-and-out Dhanush film and he has simply rocked as Raguvaran. You can differentiate his performance between the first and the second half. In the first half, it's all about the actor in Dhanush. The subtle nuances, the impeccable comic timing, the camaraderie with his co-artistes and all the song and dance were just a perfect concoction for him to perform his acting histrionics. The second half was all about atypical Tamizh cinema 'masala' hero, where our underdog rises to the occasion and Dhanush flexes his star prowess by pulling off punch dialogues effervescently. The climax fight sequence was tailor-made for him to brandish his 6-pack and machismo & swag mannerisms.'VIP' is just a bang-on for Dhanush, who was a pleasure with his screen presence ! Amala Paul, plays the cutesy and sweet girl-next-door and looks equally sweet and charming. Savitha's dubbing enhanced the role's nature and Amala's post-marriage release seems to be a good mark in her acting career ! Saranya Ponvannan and P.Samuthirakani were brilliant as the middle-class parents and the chemistry they share between themselves, was beautiful to watch. Debutante Amitash was a little letdown as the antagonist, but you can't blame him much when the hero opposing him is a terrific actor. Vivek brings some laughter in the second half with his dialogues and voice modulation. 'Cell' Murugan, Surabhi, M.J Shriram, Hrishikesh, Vignesh Sivan and etc were good additions to the film as character artistes.
Nagu and Pallavi Singh takes care of the costume department and Pallavi scores in her work for the lovely attires of Amala Paul, who looked simple yet sweet and presentable throughout the film. Action choreography is done by a debutante Hari Dinesh and his choreography style for the film, matched the body language of Dhanush, which shows that he has done his homework, pretty well. The climax fight was well choreographed and it really upped the ante, especially with the trademark flying kick from Dhanush ! R.K Vijay Murugan's art direction was brilliant, especially with the interior works for the protagonist's middle-class home. The set properties were just so apt, it naturally blended and looked very realistic, and the camp-like house on the rooftop balcony was a sweetly executed ! Editing is by another debutante M.V Rajesh Kumar and his work deserves appreciation because the film does not have any draggy moments and it was precisely edited, with only the necessary scenes being kept. The songs could be a spoilsport for some, but in such commercial films, they are a must ! R.Velraj's cinematography complemented the film's script and though there are no outstanding framing from him, the necessity was not there due to the script's simplistic story-line. Yet, there are some beautiful night effect shots and also some rain shots, which R.Velraj really seems to be a specialist in !
The film would have lost half the luster, if it wasn't for Anirudh Ravichander's musical score. The songs were just a treat for the fans and each one of them are chart-busters ! "What a Karvad" was shot entirely on the empty streets and the lighting for the night effect shot was neatly done. Lots of top angle shots were used for this song. "Hey Inge Paaru" is a bit song, which has montages of Dhanush and Amala Paul bonding. "Sunrise Theme" appears sporadically in the film and features predominantly during the birthday party sequence. "Udhungada Sangu" follows immediately and was fully shot on the rooftop balcony, on Dhanush and Hrishikesh with some dancers. The beautiful melody "Amma Amma" sung by Dhanush and the legendary S.Janaki, comes right after the interval and is a fit situational song, with montages of Dhanush and Saranya Ponvannan. "Po Indru Neeyaaga" is another short song shot on the lead pair, but this time it has more intimate and romantic montages, in which a couple of them were beautifully shot in the rain. The titular track, "Vellaiila Pattadhari" was also used as a situational song, which highlights the underdog tag powerfully and was fully shot on Dhanush on construction sites. Finally, the "Smiling with the Pain" theme track appears sporadically in the second half. Anirudh rocks with the background score and the lilting string section portion is fast becoming a trademark of Anirudh !
'Velaiilla Pattadhari' is written and directed by cinematographer R.Velraj and his script managed to strike a perfect balance of commercial 'masala' elements, together with realistic story telling and with a powerful social message. As mentioned earlier, the first half was a very entertaining and breezy episode, with all the light-hearted moments, the songs, the blossoming romance, the comedic episodes and etc. It was almost reminiscent of a Selvaraghavan-type of presentation, minus the crude and in-your-face sort of dialogues and scenes ! The second half was all 'masala' with hero vs villain antics, the powerful punch-dialogues, the stirring emotional scenes, the addition of extra comedians and a dose of relevant and contemporary social message. R.Velraj just nailed it and together with a perfect team of artistes and technicians, the end product was simply a pure commercial film, which one can consider as a perfect, relaxing entertainment. Though the commercial elements are cliched, R.Velraj's writing was very organic and the screenplay has a neat flow to it. Also, the dialogues are very contemporary and colloquial and even the social message scenes were not preachy. The romance track was not overdone and some sequences were very sweet and endearing, especially the birthday party episode. 'Vellaiilla Pattadhari' seems to be a quintessential representation of the perfect 'masala' entertainer !
'Vellaiilla Pattadhari' - A bang on D25, Team V.I.P !
Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
