Premise:

Karthi is born at the exact demise time of MGR. Rajkiran is his grandfather and the actor’s fanatic, he upbrings Karthi with all honesty. But he becomes a corrupt Police officer, how his character arc shifts after several incidents form the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction:

We have seen plenty of films with the protagonist arc of a corrupt Police becoming a sincere officer, placing the MGR angle as the core is a masterstroke by the director which brings in an organic variety for his storytelling. The initial portions set the stage well, especially the childhood portions highlighting Nambiar further connect the narrative tool. Nalan Kumarasamy’s trademark quirky humour works well, the jokes don’t follow the same pattern or style, we get comedies through dialogues, situations and even via efficient performances. We just get a surface level idea about the main plot with an interesting term named ‘Hacktivists’, expecting more detail in the later half. The interval block neatly establishes the heroic aspect with Karthi transforming into an alter-ego of MGR, backed by a whip fight and a vintage song. Sadly the second half falls as a wasted opportunity by not exploring any of the interesting points that got introduced before the halfway mark. The internal drama on the lines of ‘Anniyan’ is convincing, but the film needed a strong external subject to accomplish the superhero saga, which is nowhere to be found. We are offered repetitive action blocks throughout the final hour with no inventiveness, same style of fight sequences and with different MGR songs played in the background. Perhaps the filmmaker put his entire focus on the reincarnation of Vaathiyaar and left the story untouched. Only with a strong villain, the hero can outsmart, here the antagonist characters are weakly written just with a namesake perception of corrupted politicians with zero depth in their criminal side. The hackers are also reduced to mere caricatures with nothing to offer to the flow. The climax tries to metaphorically represent that a legend like MGR has no end, but the screenplay was never in support to provide any impact. Cluelessly placing the cameo of Bobby Simha in the finale only makes the film more random. Some basic issues exist, it is said that the story takes place in a fictional town named ‘Maasilaa’, then why showcase iconic buildings like the Chepauk stadium, the contrast presentation only keeps us distant from its storyworld.

Performances:

 Not a cakewalk role for any actor, yet Karthi has pulled it off with great conviction. Such free-flow while portraying as the grey shade cop and so disciplined while playing MGR, he has gracefully enacted the mannerisms of the beloved veteran. Krithi Shetty gets a peculiar role, but no development and she is reduced to adding nothing much to the script. Rajkiran’s character is vital to drive the story, he deserved more screen presence to add more value to the emotional quotient. Dummy villain role for Sathyaraj, absurd lookset but no uniqueness in the way he deals with the situations. Zero importance for plenty of supporting artists like Shilpa Manjunath, Nizhalgal Ravi, Ramesh Thilak, Karunakaran, etc.

Technicalities:

Joyful album by Santhosh Narayanan, but the songs are not utilized well in the film, either they are cut in halfway or randomly placed with no proper leads. Cinematography is good with a nice choice of colours and apt lighting for a commercial flick. However the production value is dull and low-quality VFX is evident in many frames. The film runs just for 130 minutes, still lags galore in the second half with way too many action episodes, the output could have easily been crisper. Poor stunt choreography, there is absolutely no variety in the fight sequences and they all feel the same.

Verdict:

A refreshing vigilante aspect with MGR in the foreground, the quirks work well. But writing falters with no detailing in the story. Nalan has misinterpreted the meaning of commercial cinema by packing it with needless songs and pointless repetitive action.

VAA VAATHIYAAR - A solid idea wasted in execution!

Rating - 2.5/ 5.