Director Vijay had a lot of scope with the plot-line borrowed from 1997 Hollywood movie "George of the Jungle". Director Vijay had the option of making it a  family entertainer with lots of slapstick elements of how the forest man dealing with city. There is also ample scope for injecting loads of satire elements of how humans have allowed to become slaves to technology advances (as touched upon in one of the songs). There is also interesting situations to explore through the usual love angle. The sharp contrasts lend itself well for so much interesting human drama and narrative, if only Director Vijay had gone all out to boldly let his imagination free. The movie turns out to be devoid of interesting situations, scenes or dialogues. The screenplay is flat, predictable and doesn’t take any effort to elevate above what was already revealed in the 2-minute trailer.   

After the “vanamagan” and “panamagal” fall in love in first half, the movie switches focus to how the multi-national corporate companies exploit the natural resources and destroy the livelihoods of indigenous tribes belonging to the native region. The second half has a lot of resemblance to “Avatar” and “Dances with Wolves”. Both these movies dwelt into how the native populations are under threat from greedy and aggressive colonists. Similar to the aforementioned Hollywood movies, the rich heroine (Sayyesshaa) also takes a liking to the native tribes which she tries to protect along with the hero(Jayam Ravi).     

Director Vijay who has made a mark for himself by unflinchingly drawing inspiration from Hollywood movies and adapting to the local taste of Tamil audience fail to do it in Vanamagan. He could have either stayed loyal to “George of the Jungle” plot-line and had fun with it or could have taken up the plot-line of “Avatar” and tap into the rich action-drama elements. Vanamagan is neither here nor there and ends up being lackluster.      

Casting

The movie should have been promoted as Sayyeshaa’s Vanamagan. Sayyeshaa is there in almost every scene and song. Jayam Ravi’s doesn’t mouth a single line of dialogue throughout the film. Jayam Ravi doesn't have a single memorable scene to showcase his acting skills. Jayam Ravi’s effort is mostly in the form of jumping, leaping, fighting and cliff-hanging. Jayam Ravi should be credited for shaping up his body to suit the role. Last thing you want to see is a paunchy guy running around and jumping around without his shirt on.    

Sayyesshaa is definitely a great find when it comes to her dancing talent. She is phenomenally flexible and super quick in her dance moves. It is not a surprise if she is christened as “female Prabhu Deva”. Director makes doubly sure that her dancing prowess gets the due attention it deserves. On the downside, Sayyesshaa has great complexion and she could have relied less on thick layers of make-up which looked a bit too artificial. Sayyeshaa has potential if she capitalizes to work on good scripts with the right directors in future. 

Thambi Ramaiah does his usual brand of comedy without any memorable lines. Prakash Raj’s intentions are predictable right from the first scene when he is introduced as the caretaker and guardian of the rich heroine.  Thalaivasal Vijay is unnecessary.    

Music and Technicalities

On the technical side, Director Vijay has always been very loyal to his core team of GV Prakash, Nirav Shah, Anthony and Na. Muthukumar. This time, he has teamed up with Harris Jayaraj, DOP Tirru and Madhan Karky. Editor Anthony stays as part of this new team. The difference in outcome is evident as Vijay's usual visual finesse is somewhat missing this time. Harris and Madhan Karky have done well in the songs and lyrics. However, Harris has gone completely berserk in composing the re-recording and background score. There are a few scenes that could have possibly worked with a decent background score. Unfortunately, Harris relies on repeating the background score with gibberish lyrics which is a stereotypical representation of tribal music.    

National award winning Tirru’s camerawork is mediocre as it fails to capture the lush green visuals of the forest and the portrayal of the lead characters, Jayam Ravi and Sayyeshaa. Action scenes could have been more interesting. Computer graphics involving the tiger is borderline good. The formula of forcing 5 songs along familiar settings and choreography is so much old style.

Final Word

Director Vijay should be appreciated for the honorable intent of dedicating this movie to dying tribes all over the world. Director Vijay continues to make clean family-friendly movie without any offensive comedy or language. Despite the good intentions, Vanamagan writing is uninspiring and fails to engage despite the rich scope offered by the plot.   

Rating: 2.25 / 5