Director: H Vinoth
Solid: Ajith Kumar, Huma Qureshi
H Vinoth’s Valimai stars Ajit Kumar as a cop named Arjun. Now there are two movies in Valimai. The first movie is a Hollywood type thriller the place this cop, Ajith, tries to deliver down a gang of biker criminals. The second movie is a giant tear-jerking Indian type melodrama mega serial sort factor, the place we see Ajith’s household getting concerned within the warfare between the hero and the villain performed by Kartikeya Gummakonda. The 2 movies simply don’t come collectively.
Now it’s not that motion movies can’t have sentiment. We had Ajith’s personal Yennai Arindhaal the place we had some lovely moments the place he was extra of a household man than a cop. However I feel the household scenes listed here are generic and dated. There’s not one contemporary concept. The amma sentiment and the crying child sentiment, are issues that will have been cliched within the Mohenjo Daro period. After the hero intro combat the place his face is first proven as lit by lightning, we get a random track the place they sing, ‘Naanga Vera Maathiri’ and I wished to inform them ‘Avalo Scene Ila pa’.
The movie runs for some three hours and it might have been significantly better with out the scenes about Ajith’s household. Now I see what Vinoth is making an attempt to do right here. He’s making an attempt to indicate us that Ajith has home issues in addition to the issues that he’s dealing with with the villain. In different phrases, he’s making an attempt to offer a private contact to Ajith’s investigation, however the entire thing is undermined when the writing is so generic.
For instance, what does the truth that Ajith’s older brother is a drunkard add to the narrative? Nicely, sure, it provides us one level that Ajith has this explicit private downside as properly. However then why not give this brother a greater character arc as an alternative of simply making him a caricature? The one scene that I preferred, in truth, the one scene that I preferred in these household episodes is when this drunkard’s spouse walks out on him.
That’s one good factor about Valimai. I imply, not one of the girls have considerably completely different roles, however all of them assist Ajith in a roundabout way. They don’t seem to be simply ornamental objects. The pc specialists who assist Ajith’s investigation are good younger girls. The Huma Qureshi character will get a solo motion scene, and with out her, Ajith wouldn’t have been in a position to deliver down the villain on the finish.
Perhaps Nerkonda Paarvai was not an accident. Perhaps Ajith, in no matter small approach, is making an attempt to empower the ladies in his movies. Anyway, again to the issues in Valimai. Now should you ask the business folks, they’ll say, ‘Oh, you might be metropolis folks. These household scenes are wanted for the B and C centres, they actually take pleasure in them.’ However I guess you that should you ship a questionnaire to those exact same so-called B and C centre folks, they are going to most likely say, ‘Please spare us, simply pass over this mom, brother; simply pass over everyone else’. As a result of guess what, they’ve began watching all these Quick and Livid motion pictures and Shang-chi, and all these different motion pictures dubbed in Tamil. That’s the best way their mentality is. This old-style of displaying issues just isn’t going to work anymore.
However the Hollywood film in Valimai, that’s the investigation half, works to an extent. The screenplay right here is crisp and clear. The heroes listed here are the cinematographer Nirav Shah and the editor Vijay Velukutty and whoever did the wonderful location recce, as a result of their areas are simply wonderful. If you put an motion scene in an incredible location, it doubles the impact.
Ajith is in commanding type because the cop, although not a lot within the dramatic parts. However one factor that Vinoth understands is that you just can’t have the hero hold successful. In any other case the ability of the film and its ending the place the hero truly wins, doesn’t work that properly.
Due to this fact we have now issues like Ajith being demoted in his career. He’s demoted to being an inspector. However Ajith is defeated by his youthful brother in a approach. I don’t wish to spoil it for you, however it’s this set of defeats that make his success on the finish most satisfying, no less than in idea. However for some motive that doesn’t occur and the movie doesn’t have a lot of an emotional connection. I feel one of many causes is the exhausting three hours run time.
There merely isn’t that a lot emotional materials to form of hook you in and take you thru these. For this reason one of the best scenes within the film are the biker stunts choreographed by Dhilip Subbarayan.
In a typical Tamil film, you get solely fistfights. That’s the hero will give a punch and the henchmen will then go and land 5 ft away. That occurs right here too, particularly one in gradual movement within the hero intro combat, which is like the identical previous cliche factor. However the stunts with the vans and the bike are beautifully choreographed. They’ve actually taken an effort to make this a Hollywood type manufacturing and the hassle exhibits up there on the display screen and the size of the manufacturing additionally exhibits up there on the display screen.
I want future filmmakers who wish to make these supposedly slick motion pictures take the Quick and Livid movies for instance. There is no such thing as a amma sentiment in these motion pictures. Their hero doesn’t have to have a look at the viewers and provides a message about society. They’ve an affordable run time and so they’re not flabby. A few of that occurs right here too. For instance, we don’t waste any time with romantic tracks for Ajith. However the generic sentiments hold dragging the film down.
Now Vinoth made the identical form of mistake in Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru, the place the Rakul Preet Singh and Karthi’s sentimental parts saved interfering with the investigation. However no less than in that film, the Rakul character was shortly dispatched, after which the remainder of the film was tremendous intense.
I want one thing like that had been completed right here as properly. As a result of by the top, we’re left with a film that’s neither intense nor thrilling. It lies someplace within the center, vaguely watchable. I’d simply say it’s the form of okayish film the place the characters are much less fascinating than the stuntmen who function the bikes.
