Velayutham - It is not a Super Hero story !

A total "good" Commercial Flick after a long time in Tamil Cinema.

An usual story put up in an usual way, without any twists and turns that would have spoiled the essence of the film.

STORY

Chennai. Bomb blast at a market. Three journalists get into action in revealing who is behind that and many similar crimes in the city. In that project, two of them dies and the remaining one, Bharathi, a female journalist burns the two other colleagues and writes a fake letter that there after wherever such acts of terrorism takes place, "I will appear" and signs it as Velayutham. She does it to create fear in the criminals' mind.

Pavunoor Village. Vel a.k.a Velayutham is a Milkman. He lives only for his sister Kaveri. For her happiness, he does many things in the village that caused trouble to the villagers. But all of them in the village love this Bro-Sis pair for their immense love towards each other. A marriage proposal comes up for Kaveri. Marriage is fixed and Velayutham, Kaveri, Vaidehi - Vel's Uncle's daughter, her father and few of his friends travel to Chennai in order to debit the Chit amount of Rs. 15 Lakhs deposited in a Chit Fund in Chennai and also to buy things for the marriage.

Velayutham beats up the thieves in the train. His bag was stolen by Speedu, a petty thief. He chases him in a bike and leaves it somewhere. Fortunately, that bike only had the bombs. A Police Constable takes him to be that Velayutham mentioned in the letter. Velayutham was deceived by Speed that he will help Vel in Chennai and all of them stay at Speedu's house who plans to loot the Chit amount. While in Chennai, Velayutham meets Bharathi randomly. Once, he takes a suitcase in order to give it to it's owner and again it was a bomb that destroyed the place where Crores of Duplicate money was kept. Another time, he saves Bharathi from terrorists who were safeguarding a Weapon base. Actually, all these places and people were connected to the Home Minister. So, Home Minister takes up special interest in detaining Velayutham. Bharathi alone finds out that Milkman Velayutham is actually the Super Hero that she created for some good purpose and who emerged coincidentally. But Velayutham explains her he is not ready to be that Velayutham as practically he had his own family and Life to see to.

At the same time, Chit fund is closed suddenly and because of that many people were affected. A father, who had deposited 2 Lakhs for his Daughter's operation commits suicide because of the closure. Velayutham decides to get into action as that Super Hero, who was loved by the people immensely. He kills those people who were behind that Chit Fund Cheating and gives back the money to the actual owners. Insisted by Bharathi, he destroys a group that kidnapped Girls and sold them heartlessly. On seeing all this, Bharathi started loving Velayutham, but she comes to know that he is in love with his uncle's daughter Vaidehi, who was mad about him.

The terrorists plan a huge attack by running a speedy train into a gas plant so that a tragedy like Bhopal Gas accident might take place and that would be a great victory to their Jihad. Vijay however comes to know that and stops the train and kills most of the terrorists. Their head was actually in disguise with the Home Minister, as his driver. Velayutham hands him over to the police. Minister's brother takes up the blame of helping the terrorists himself. Still, he was killed by the Minister. The terrorist identifies Velayutham's place and family and plans to kill him with a bomb, wrapped in a gift cover for his sister's marriage. Kaveri dies in that encounter, saving all others.

Velayutham travels back to Chennai to stop them. The minister fools the people that he will show up Velayutham in front of them. The terrorist actually dresses up like Velayutham. They plan to kill thousand at the same place. With the help of a blind girl, Bharathi and her associate, people come to know it is not Velayutham. Meanwhile Velayutham beats up the terrorists but gets caught to a few. He escapes and kills the head too. All these encounters were recorded by a pin camera in his shirt button. Atlast, people come to know that the Minister is the reason for all crimes and kills him. Velayutham walks away as a normal civilian without showing up to the World, who he was. Also, he seeds the social awareness in people that everyone should become Velayutham, when they see some crime taking place in the society.

CAST 

Abhimanyu Singh ~ Terrorist

Perfect role for an Afghan Terrorist. He acted well and also has the looks in him.

Santhanam ~ Speedu

He can be called another hero in the film, as he carried the whole of the first half along with Vijay. He is becoming the best comedian of this era. He has style in him and his dialogues. His scenes make the audience go for a spring ride on their seats - Laughing. Great work and Way to go.

Saranya Mohan ~ Kaveri

She looks too cute. Village Sister role - A perfect Choice. Her acting is subtle and clear. Vijay-Saranya combo seriously worked out for a good Bro-Sis pair after a long time in Tamil Cinema.


Hanshika Motwani ~ Vaidehi

A hot bomb that travels al the way with Vijay. Songs would have been empty without her. She looks gorgeous, hot and stunning. And her reactions speak a lot than her acting.

Genelia D'souza ~ Bharathi

Atlast, a grown up actress in her. Her eyes speak a lot. She did justice to the reporter character. Looks a bit extra cute, when in Paavaadai-Dhaavani. Though a second heroine, her character is more important.

Vijay ~ Velayutham

Finally, a big blow to the critics. He acts well. He dances awesome. His dialogue deliveries remind us of Pro Stars of the past generation. His comedy scenes are in equal notion with that of Santhanam. Obviously, he is known for sentiments. So no doubt that he gives apt reactions for the scenes and avoids any over-reaction factor. He is slim, fit ad perfect for a young villager role. And that Six-Pack thing is no Graphics or Visual Effects or Camera Tricks. It's for real. People who really know what is Six-Pack will surely appreciate his looks. His fight sequences are again a bit over hyped. But still, seeing him as a mass entertainer, it is acceptable. Vijay - The real thing in the film. His bad times are over and sure the next few films of his are gonna be spoken off largely.

Ah! It's a crime not to mention his Smartness and Handsome looks. Usually Heroes will look old as they get on with their age. But Velayutham Vijay reminds us of that young Vijay, Tamil Industry had seen a decade before. He is obviously a good selection for a college student role. He looks romantic and stunning.

Other casts like PandiyaRaj, M S Bhaskar, Parotta Soori, Paandi all gave life to their roles and subsequently to the film.

The Director ~ M Raja

Though it is said that it is an inspired story from Azad starring Nagarjuna, the director has penned a very good screenplay. Though it is complained that the second half is a bit lengthy, yet it doesn't make the audience feel empty or boring. Songs were placed in perfect positions. Fight sequences could have been picturized even more subtly. Dialogues stood for themselves. A very good try in the commercial side. Surely, Raja retained his name as an "Entertaining Director".

TECHNICIANS

Cameraman ~ Priyan

Good work bro. Usually, commercial flicks won't need any special camera stuffs. Still, your work is excellent. Especially the train scene. Good Going.

Editor ~ V T Vijayan

Again, commercial factor gives the permit of being lenient. And the editor has proved his excellence once again. Thanks for giving a bit lengthy movie in an enjoyable way.

Music ~ Vijay Antony

Not upto the mark. That too, Vijay films are famous for their mind-blowing songs. In that way, something was always missing in this album. "Molachi Moonu Ela" was soothing and good. Others were normal.

Visual Effects

The team must surely be praised. Be it the Train Scene or the Climax. Everything was placed in position. There was a blend of experience and at the same time some innovation. Especially Kudos to the Climax sequence showing Vijay's face.

Dance Directors

You have Vijay on the sets and you choreograph only this much?? Ah. A bit disappointing. It could have been a lot better.

The Film

Overall, it was a great entertainer. Surely not a comeback for Vijay. But a solid proof that Vijay is still in the industry and his competitors need to be careful. The Terrorism part was usual and already seen in many ventures. But putting that in a way that doesn't annoy the audience, credits goes to the director. The film did not create any awareness and stuffs. Still, it surely makes the Ticket Buyer a full and satisfactory feeling for that hundred bucks that he paid.

More than anything, the climax and the Train Scene were the real plus of the film. Especially that scene in which thousands of people walking past Vijay, without knowing that he was the celebrated Super Hero, was quite practical and the dialogues in the last scene were really worthy enough for the venture. The final verdict is,
It is not about an anonymous Super Hero. It is all about that Super Hero who lives within every single man.

Bottom Line : Velayutham is obviously a powerful tool in Vijay's Career and also against New World thinkers who say Commercial Ventures are not gonna be praised.

 

                               

7aam Arivu (7th Sense) - Truly, only midway between 5th and 6th !!

A Ticket to the next level of Tamil Cinema

Yeah. That's how I would define the film. It is not a perfect entertainer. But surely an eyeopener to the nostalgic people in the industry. It's a very good try, but should have been tried even more better.

STORY

1600 years ago. It's all about a man "Bodhi Dharma", who was a descendant of a Pallava King, who ruled the northern parts of TamilNadu(India) once upon a time. He is sent to China, by his Royal Mother to cure the endemic spreading over there, as there is a chance of the disease to spread into India. He, who is a scholar in Martial Arts and Medicinal Sciences, travels alone to China. At first, he gets a negative response from the natives. But then, he cures a child who was affected by the disease and he was considered as some God. He lives there and once saves the people from enemies too. Inspired by his martial arts, they plead him to teach them those arts. He too does the same and lives there forever. In his old age, he wishes to travel back to his motherland. Desperate Chinese, who fears about his retreat to India poisons his food. He, who knows the food is poisoned, without any hesitation consumes the food as per the people's plea. He is buried there.

China. The government itself appoints the best student of the Shaolin Temple, Dong Li, to start an operation called "OPERATION RED" to cause an endemic in India with high mortality rate and as a result India will surrender to China and it's demands. Also his additional task was to kill Shuba who was trying to bring back Bodhi Dharma's medical knowledge into today's world and so that would be a great blast to their operation.

In Chennai, there lives a young guy named Arvind. He is a circus performer. Once, he gets attracted by a Genetic Engineering student Shuba. After few attempts and incidents, he gets closer with her and starts loving her. But one night, from his uncle he comes to know that the girl already knew about him before 1 and half years and she was actually following him for a purpose. He is shattered by such a disappointment. Then, he comes to know that he is a pure descendant of Bodhi Dharma and he has such a DNA sequence that resembles more than 80% of his. He is convinced that with further research, a revolution in Medical field can be achieved. Meanwhile, Dong Li infects a street dog with the Virus and kills 9 Policemen. Also he plots Shuba and tries to kill her. He kills a lot of people with his high techniques of Hypnotism. Arvind and Shuba run for their lives. They come to know that Shuba's professor was the person helping those Chinese for a Rs. 300 Crore Wired Money. From him, they come to know about the operation and Arvind accepts to carry out the 12 days Genetic Research and Application on his body. They choose an isolated Genetic Lab and carry out their research with the help of 3 Genetic Engineering students and a Shuba's Schoolmate Malathi. Dong Li tries hard and however kills Malathi and another student. Also he comes for Arvind and Subha. Finally, on 12th day, he reaches them but unfortunate for him that Bodhi Dharma's traits somehow started to show up in Arvind's body and mind. Arvind kills Dong Li. Also reveals the medicinal knowledge of ancient Tamil Culture and it's importance to the world.

CAST

Surya ~ Bodhi Dharma

Perfect Attitude. Great hardwork. Though few scenes were too dramatic, many things were digestible. His Silence speaks actually. Fight scenes were not too good. Still, he managed to give us a good show.


Surya ~ Arvind

Typical Guy. Second half Arvind is enjoyable. First half is worthless. It's obvious he has Six Packs. Good hardwork but that doesn't mean he should be without shirts in most of the scenes. Danced well. Fought well. Acted well. But overall, there was something missing.

Shruti Hassan ~ Shuba

She stresses a lot that she is a "Tamil Ponnu". Says that her native is Tanjavur. Her father was a Sidhdha Doctor and all. But nowhere she speaks Good Tamil. She supports a lot for Tamil. Those scenes were excellent. She has acted well on a whole, but needs to improve a lot on language skills. It's better that someone else would have given the voice. She is extra fair and seriously gorgeous in many scenes. Way to go Miss Beautiful.

Johnny Tri Nguyen ~ Dong Li

The only Perfect Choice in the venture. He shows great actions, body language and atlast, he is a Fighter. No wonder he was the Stunt Director for X-Men, Spiderman and Mortal Kombat. He looks dashing and his style and attitude makes us reminded of some Hollywood Lead Roles.

Dialogues

Few of the best and simple dialogues Tamil Cinema has ever seen. Especially hats off to the Director to put in dialogues against 9 big nations (Especially SriLanka) that involved in brutal acts against thousands of Lives.
Dialogues that include Tamil Culture's meaning and the Science and Logic in it is an old known fact. Still, they need to be used every now and then to create awareness.

The Director ~ A R Murugadoss

He is a perfectionist. His films speak more than what he do. He lifted many actors to their next levels including Ajith, Surya and also gave a super hit for a market-out actor Vijayakanth. The only director Aamir Khan believes more than himself. Such a man. Still, many things spoiled his name in this film. The story is fantabulous. But the screenplay was too irrelevant in the first half and was dragging in the second half. But making of the film needs to be honoured.
Expecting You back into form Murugadoss Sir. We know, you will give great pieces to the industry.

TECHNICIANS

Cameraman ~ Ravi K Chandran

Pretty good work with the Camera. There are no fast movements of the Camera. Everything is captured slowly with patience and perfection. There are no very special moments that will be spoken of. But for sure, what is needed for the film, is given of in a right way. Shruti and Surya are shown amazing in song sequences.

Editing ~ Anthony

Good piece of Editing I would say. There was a connection to every next scene in the film. Credits goes to the editor.

Music ~ Harris Jayaraj

Soundtracks were very much normal when compared to his previous flicks like Ko and Engeyum Kaadhal. Still, few were soothing. Though, criticized that his works are copied pieces of Music, it is admitted that whatever he does, he gives good music. Mun Andhi Saaral and Yamma Yamma songs were good in specific.

The Film

Overall, it's an eyeopener to Tamil Audience. They never knew about a man named Bodhi Dharma. And when it is said that such a great man was their ancestor, obviously they would feel proud. Concept was too good, though it was an inspiration from a hollywood venture "Perfume".
First half was irrelevant to the film. Romance sequences should have been avoided. There was no life in songs. After Bodhi Dharma died, the next coming scenes make the audience lose their temper.
Second half was really better. It started to increase the thrill of knowing the next scene. But a song was unnecessary there. It slowed down the pace of the film at a point. It wasn't a good example of AR Murugadoss' film. Climax was pretty okay. It shall have been put in an even more better way.

Drawbacks of the Film

• The first 20 minutes of the film - Bodhi Dharman part needn't have been explained very detailly. That made it look like a documentary. It shall have been connected with 2nd half scenes so that it would have been a class apart way of telling the story.

• Logic was missing at many points

1. You can surely bring back the traits of your ancestor. But you can never bring back the whole art into the descendant. Totally illogical.
2. You can't complete a Genetic Transfer in after all 12 short days, that too with inexperienced people around and without any Medical professional's assistance.
3. If hypnotism will be effective on all people in the World except Bodhi Dharma, then why didn't the Fast Track Call Taxi manager accept to what the Chinese said?
4. Hypnotism obviously exists but not to this level.
5. You can atleast hypnotise people and make them to fight like Kung Fu scholars (That's stupid). But you can't hypnotise Cars and Bikes and make them to fly in Air.
6. You may be the greatest Kung Fu fighter of your Era. That doesn't mean that You'll be the strongest man on earth to uproot such huge trees and play with them like toys.

•  Many things in the film resembled few Hollywood Movies

1.  Scenes from Shaolin temple, exactly resembled the scenes from "Karate Kid"
2. The concept that Virus spread from person to person and there is no cure was almost same as that of the Hollywood venture "Outbreak"

Overall, it is an One-Time-Watch. But Vikram would have been a better choice for the role of Bodhi Dharman.

BottomLine : 7th Sense is actually somewhere between the 5th and the 6th.