Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven Review - Raja arrives without his crown

Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven (VRV) is a remake of 2013 super hit Telugu movie, Attarintiki Daredi. Even though one could point out issues, the Telugu version succeeded because of holding the central theme together while peppering with comedy, action and romance. The script is custom made for Sundar C's brand of entertainment and one would assume there is no way to mess it up when remade to Tamil.

Plot

The plot is loyal to the original version in Telugu. Nassar is a rich but unhappy businessman abroad. He wishes to reconcile with his estranged daughter played by Ramya Krishnan, whom he expelled because she married Prabhu against his wishes. His grandson, Simbu, promises Nassar that he will bring her back to their home on his 80th birthday. The story is about whether Simbu is able to bring his aunt, Ramya Krishnan, back to his grand dad.

How can a sure-fire script miss its mark?

The first problem is that the story is an outdated script. During the last 6 years, Tamil movies have come a long way and focused on cleaner narration eliminating all the distractions in the name of entertainment. This emotionally manipulative drama needed to be tight in order to work as a guilty pleasure. However, the sole purpose of this movie is to take upon Simbu’s personal agenda and message to adversaries. It is surprising to see how Sundar C as a director allowed the scenes and dialogues to be tampered to such an extent.  

The problem begins there but doesn’t end there. In the original version, Pawan Kalyan looks sharp and his presence carried the movie throughout despite a lot of cinematic moments. In this case, Simbu looks uncomfortable in his own skin. STR dances a lot slower and not swift in fight sequences. Simbu looks comparable when standing next to his co-stars Prabhu, Robo Shankar, and Yogi Babu. The layered costumes to hide the excess mass and facial beard to hide his multiple chins only make it worse.

Catherine Tresa dances with a lot of gusto and her job ends there. Megha Akash of yet to be released 'Ennai Nokki Paayum Thotta' fame has more screen time than Catherine. The casting could have been switched between Catherine Tresa and Megha.

There are some genuinely funny moments. However, STR keeps slapping Yogi Babu, VTV Ganesh, Mottai Rajendran and Robo Shankar in the name of comedy, which gets too repetitive and doesn't evoke laughter after a while.

Music and Technicalities

Hiphop Tamizha does a lot of mixing and interesting fusions in his songs which often seem to capture the attention of the younger generation. The background track is often chaotic and switches frequently with a medley of emotions on screen. The editing looked disjoint, partly because of the screenplay.

Final Word:

Vandha Rajavathaan Varuven fails to engage due to the same problems faced by "Osthe", another remake of a mega-hit movie a few years ago. Instead of fitting the hero and characters in a successful script, the script is again used as a mere platform to promote STR and messaging vehicle to people off-screen. Raja arrives without his crown and mind.

Rating – 1.75 out of 5