Velaiilla Pattadhari (VIP) 2

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Heather Wilson

VIP Poster

Sequels are always tricky. Returning to a popular character or scenario is fraught with unfavourable comparisons, and finding a new story that works while retaining the aspects that made the original film so popular is another minefield to cross. There are a few sequels that turn out better than the original film but they are the exception, and sadly VIP 2 isn’t one of them. However, while it may not be the best sequel ever made, it’s certainly not the worst and as an all-round entertainer, it fares reasonably well. Most of the success is due to Dhanush who carries the film over some occasionally rough ground, but Kajol makes a better than average adversary while the presence of many of the original cast (including Harry Potter) ensure good continuity with the first film.

After dealing with Arun in VIP, the sequel opens with Raghuvaran (Dhanush) still working for Ramkumar (M.J. Shriram) at Anitha Constructions and winning the Engineer of the Year award. This brings him to the attention of Vasundhara Parameshwar (Kajol) who runs the biggest engineering firm in South India. Raghuvaran’s dismissal of her offer of employment rankles, but not as much as his admonishment to be less arrogant when Anitha Constructions wins a big contract over Vasundhara. A self-made woman who has clawed her way up from the bottom, Vasundhara makes it her mission in life to squash Raghuvaran like the bug she perceives him to be, but of course it’s not going to be as simple as she believes.

All the elements are there from the previous film, Raghuvaran’s beloved cycle, his dedication to the memory of his mother, and his unfortunate tendency to drink too much when faced with a problem. What doesn’t work quite so well is the change in Shalini (Amala Paul) from a sensible romantic interest to a shrewish and nagging wife. Supposedly this is due to giving up her job and taking over all the household chores, which to be perfectly honest is enough to drive anyone to grumpiness, but the constant bickering wears thin very fast. Worst still, Shalini’s nagging is supposed to be funny, but it’s just as irritating to the audience as to Raghuvaran’s family.

Kajol is a huge improvement over Arun and his father as the villain of the piece. Her entrance is more typical of a hero as the first glimpse is of her stylish and very pointed stiletto hitting the ground as she arrives at the Engineering awards ceremony. In fact, the crowd reaction was just as loud and enthusiastic for Vasundhara’s entrance as it was for Raghuvaran’s first appearance on screen. Kajol totally owns the role and her arrogance and confidence are a perfect balance to Raghuvaran and Ramkumar’s humility and attention to detail. And yet she’s not evil or out to destroy the poor of society, simply determined to push though her own ideas and methods regardless of anyone standing in her way. However, after a great start, her repeated attempts to get the better of Raghuvaran start to seem petty and churlish rather than decisive and it seems unlikely that someone who had the strength and ability to run a successful company would be quite as petulant and narrow-minded. Still, Kajol is stunning as she sweeps around in her tailored suits and stylish sunglasses, while her menacing dialogues are surprisingly effective.

Raghuvan’s father (Samuthirakani) is a more supportive figure this time round, but his brother Karthik (Hrishkesh) barely gets to say a word and most of the VIP boys suffer the same fate. Without any substantial input, they become a faceless mass without any of the charm or appeal that allowed a connection to develop to these characters in the original film. The film is significantly more focused on Dhanush, who has the acting chops to carry it off, but at the expense of a more coherent storyline. The plot wanders as story and screenplay writers Dhanush and Soundarya Rajinikanth try to include as many of the characters as possible from VIP 1, but run out of things for them all to do. Saravana Subbiah pops up as an unscrupulous developer while Vivek reprises his role as Raghuvaran’s side-kick Azhagusundaram. While both are fine in their roles, the characters seem to be added in, one for comedy and one to have a reason for the fight scenes, rather than have a true background and reason to be in the script. The final confrontation between Raghuvaran and Vasundhara is also a little disappointing although otherwise the chemistry between Dhanush and Kajol is excellent and the atmosphere between the two crackles at each meeting.

Sean Roldan’s music is perfectly fine but the songs don’t have the same anthemic qualities as Anirudh’s previous tunes, a fact underscored every time the original theme for Raghuvaran plays in the background. However, the choreography is slicker than in the first film and the fight scenes are also of a high quality.

If this was a stand-alone film, I would have rated it as a good action movie with an interesting concept and two excellent characters in Raghuvaran and Vasundhara. The addition of a strong and powerful female character works well here, and Dhanush emphasizes gender equality a number of times throughout the film, although it doesn’t quite gel with his wife having stopped work to look after the family home. The problem is that this is a sequel, and while the original elements are cleverly arranged to form the foundation of the film, too much feels to be added simply because it was part of the first film, while VIP2 doesn’t have a strong enough identity to pull away and succeed without that original scaffolding being firmly in place. It is however much better than I expected and both Dhanush and Kajol turn in strong performances under Soundarya’s direction to make VIP2 more than just a film for fans, but one that’s unlikely to reach quite the same cult status as the original movie.

Kaashmora

Posted on October 30, 2016 by masalaaddict

Written and directed by Gokul and starring Karthi in a double role, Kaashmora is a full on masala supernatural thriller with an amusing antihero, an evil villain, a beautiful princess, a mystic child, loads of characters with little to do and tonnes of cheesy one-liners. Much more fun than I expected, not as smart as I’d hoped, I still felt I got my money’s worth.

Kaashmora (Karthi) is a successful exorcist whose popularity is on the rise. He acquires a research assistant, Yamini (Sri Divya) who is secretly doing a thesis on fraudulent spiritualists. Eventually, and after many shenanigans, he arrives at a mysterious ruined palace which is haunted by a seriously evil spirit, Rajnayak (Karthi again). His family (including dad Vivek) who share the exorcism biz are also brought there, and they are given a hard deadline to achieve a task. Both Rajnayak and a mysterious child need Kaashmora to lift a curse and allow either a) Rajnayak to leave his confinement or b) long dead Princess Ratnamahadevi (Nayanthara) to finish him off once and for all. There’s not much Why but there is a whole lot of What! I think it’s best to just go see it and let it all roll. Or if you must spoil your own fun, read the usual painfully detailed summary a Wiki killjoy has already published.

Being a supernatural historical thingie, there is a lot of over the top design required from the palace and city through to the armour and other costumes. Overall I would say the design is great but the execution is a little lacking, and if you’re not as fond of dodgy CGI as I am, you may be in pain during some sequences. The old time city and palace are pleasingly epic in scale, and there is a nice commitment to eagles throughout. Ratnamahadevi has an excellent peacock bed, Rajnayak’s armour is hilarious and would probably get him killed or at least badly tangled up, and Kaashmora’s modern day exorcisms have the right blend of stock horror elements. The songs are colourful and their design and costuming ranges from totally unhinged to opulent and over the top. I was particularly taken by the Mad Max inspired Dhikku Dhikku Sir, although it was more “Furry Road” than Fury.

Often the device used to explain a far-fetched thing was not explained at all. Kaashmora is caught in part because of publicity about his Guinness Book of Records exorcism attempt (no, I did not know that was a category either) and naturally, we are to believe that the ghosts read the paper and watch the TV news. This was explained by a man who needn’t have been there except that there was no other way to explain that. So while I kind of liked the ideas, I wish Gokul had a better notion of how to link them together and how to keep moving without so many stops for “as you know Bob” exposition.

It’s not a terribly scary film, although there are a couple of moments that startled me a little. There’s a lot of violence but not so much gore. And despite Rajnayak being at best a sex pest and at worst a serial rapist, there was no depiction of violence or rape and all the ladies (and there were lots) he acquired gyrated around his enormous round bed and kept their spangly draperies firmly in place. Well, except his intended and unwilling bride, Ratnamahadevi, who had other ideas about their future. Small mercies.

Sri Divya got a raw deal with her character. Yamini must be the worst at research ever. Just the worst. (I feel a bit Trumpesque making that statement.) She was supposed to be doing a thesis but had no idea how to actually do research, not even check Youtube for pertinent clips. And her character was completely pointless, adding nothing to the drama and doing little until a point when other solutions could easily have been written. I would have ditched Yamini completely and used the time to explain why Rajnayak stood around covered in bats.

Karthi is much more effective, and fun, as the slippery and smug Kaashmora than the one note Rajnayak. Kaashmora is serious about his business but his reactions and one liners ranged from droll to dad joke, making the most of Karthi’s comic timing. I was distracted by a continuity issue with a bit of disappearing crud on Rajnayak’s teeth which kept me a bit more interested in him than I might have been. But I was annoyed by the ending a little as it implied that Kaashmora would not learn anything from his near death experience and possibly worse, there might be plans for a sequel.

Nayanthara is both impressive and stunning as Ratnamahadevi. I wish more time had been given to her, not just because her multi-coloured hair looked great, but because I was more interested in her back story and her connection to the mystical child. Her outfits are very fairytale princess, but Ratna is both a warrior and a diplomat, using whatever tactics will be to her advantage. When Rajnayak was pawing at this woman he had coveted for so long, Nayanthara showed both disgust and the determination to seduce him and catch him off guard. And she imbued the final confrontation with a sense of the high stakes and her absolute fury at him. Does anyone know who played the child? She was quite impressive too.

Kaashmora is less grim than Arundhati, and less engaging than Magadheera, but it is good fun in a ripping yarn kind of way. It’s worth seeing on the big screen so you can at least be absorbed in the spectacle. And thanks go to Ajith who was credited with the subtitles – much appreciated!

Velaiyilla Pattathari

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Heather Wilson

I laughed, I cried, I clapped and cheered along with everyone else in the cinema, and finally I left with a big grin on my face. Dhanush hits all the right notes in his 25^th film with a full mass entertainer that has something for everyone. This wasn’t the film I expected after seeing the trailer and despite a rather predictable storyline I was completely captivated by the infectious energy Dhanush brings to the screen. Writer/director Velraj seems to have started with a blend of a number of previous Dhanush roles (he does seem to play the part of an unemployed layabout quite frequently!), but as the story develops the differences become clear and in any case, with the quality of the actors, any similarity ceases to matter. What starts out as a family drama evolves into a full action adventure featuring snappy dialogue and perfect performances from pretty much the entire cast. I loved every moment, from Raghuvaran riding his dorky cycle taking his brother to work, to the final shirtless fight scene and even the clichéd pre-interval ‘shock’ which segues into a perfect emotional response from Dhanush. Paper-thin plot aside, this is a film to savour.

As the title suggests, Dhanush is the out of work loser in his family, with a father who fails to understand his ‘difficult’ son. His younger brother Karthik (Hrishikesh) is taller, has a job and is held up to be the ideal son in stark contrast to Raghuvaran (Dhanush). Samuthirakani plays their father and his disapproval is wonderfully understated, so that it’s hard to tell if his condemnation is genuine or simply masking concern for his jobless son. Samuthirakani has a perfectly gruff and irritable exterior and escapes stereotype by the realistic alternation between criticism and approbation of his eldest son. Meanwhile, Saranya Ponvannan is a stereotypical Southern Indian ma, but she is perfect in her role and makes much more of her character than seems possible at first glance. In particular, her reaction to Raghuvaran’s fight with some hired thugs in her front yard is hysterical! Again it’s little touches and Saranya’s ease of expression that lifts her role out of the stale and mundane, while such attention to detail in the characterisation ensures the appeal of the characters and bolsters the time-worn storyline.

The first half of the film focuses on the family dynamics and Raghuvaran’s dreary days as he spends his time filling in job applications and doing the household chores. There are plenty of lighter moments though as Raghuvaran looks after his dog Harry Potter, and tries to catch a glimpse of his new, reportedly attractive next door neighbour. Velraj mixes small every-day occurrences with more significant events to gradually build a picture of Raghuvaran’s ambitions, morals and general mind-set which in turn sets up the rationale for the action in the second half. Raghuvaran is determined to get the job he wants and not just take any work for the sake of becoming employed. The only thing which seems to have any power to change his mind is his attraction to Shalini (Amala Paul) and their budding romance.

Amala Paul doesn’t have a large role in the film, but she turns in a good performance and has plenty of onscreen chemistry with Dhanush. Their romance is sweet with Shalini taking the more aggressive role, and it’s a pleasant change to have a film where the hero isn’t a creepy stalker. Or at least not as soon as he gives up his telescope to his mother!

The second half follows Raghuvaran’s fortunes once he does find a job, and the whole dynamic of the film changes to more hero-centric action with slickly choreographed fight scenes and the requisite villain. Vivek pops up in a fairly subdued role to add some mildly amusing comedy, and there is a second heroine (Surabhi) although her storyline peters out when the action ramps up.

Amitesh is Arun, the villain of the piece. He’s a rich boy given control of his father’s company despite a lack of talent and what I would call nounce, and for various petty reasons and sheer spitefulness decides to eliminate his competitor in the world of building development. It’s a tad far-fetched but I did like the rather brattish and petulant character of Arun which was a respite from the typical brutal world-domination style villains usually encountered. Amitesh doesn’t really match up to Dhanush in terms of acting skills and it’s fairly obvious who is going to win any encounter, but the various plots and counter-plots are fun. I also appreciated the fairly accurate representation of a visit to the optometrist and an eye examination in the second half since attention to eye health is rarely featured in movies!

I’ve been listening to the soundtrack since it was released, and the songs are even better in the context of the film. Dhanush dances up a storm and the choreography is well suited to the characterisation. Udhungada sangu is probably my favourite but Anirudh Ravichander’s music and Dhanush’s lyrics (yay for subtitles!) are well matched to the screenplay and the songs are sensibly placed in the narrative.

The entire cast are all excellent but with a strong screen presence, Velaiyilla Pattathari is very definitely Dhanush’s film through and through. He nails the role of Raghuvaran and as always I am completely amazed by his ability to make me believe 100% in his character, no matter how improbable or unlikely. The interactions with his co-stars are flawless and when it gets to a long and simply brilliant monologue his facial expressions, body language and delivery all combine to make it one of my favourite scenes this year. The mixture of comedy, action and drama, plus superb performances makes this one of Dhanush’s most entertaining ‘commercial’ films in recent times and I’ll definitely be heading back to the cinema to catch it again. Highly recommended – I loved it!