Yaman Review - Too many twists but no surprises

Bharath Vijayakumar

Plot:

The hero gets himself into a political battle. Is it on purpose or is he pulled in or does he have any personal agenda?

Much like Naan and Amara Kaaviyam, Jeeva Shankar treats Yaman very seriously. So serious that you wonder if the actors have forgotten to smile. There is this sense of gloom throughout. It is definitely done on purpose but monotony hits you hard, particularly when you lose interest midway. The film is a heroism dispensing machine camouflaged as a political thriller. There is hardly a scene in the film where Vijay Antony is on the back foot. Save the din and Thamizh (Vijay Antony’s name in the film) is no different from Bairava or Durai Singham. He just cannot be defeated. There is even a ‘mass’ song ‘yen Mela Kai Vecha Gaali’. Vijay Antony does look macho in this song but the choreographers need to be careful in choosing the steps. The discomfort shows.

There is a sense of vagueness from quite early on in the film. You hardly understand why the hero behaves the way he does. This is a film with no grey characters. Save the heroine and every character is mostly dark. For a political thriller to work, you got to feel  the cunningness of the characters. Backstabbing would jolt you only when a particular character at least tries to put on a mask. Here everyone is openly evil and they mouth dialogues with a chilling look that you pretty much know where it is leading to.  For a substantial portion in the second half, Thamzh operates a la Kokki Kumar from Pudhupettai. But in that film you grew with the character and you know why and how he does those things. Here it is just the surface. It wouldn’t have mattered much had the narration been gripping. But sadly Yaman moves at such a lethargic pace.

Bottomline:

Given the current political climate in Tamil Nadu, Yaman might have got an ideal release date. But just like innumerable breaking news might have turned us a little numb, Yaman keeps throwing so many twists that you see them coming from a mile. And would you still call them twists if they do not really surprise you

Rating: 2.5/5

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