Saturday, July 26, 2014

Velai Illa Pattathari (VIP)



I came to know that VIP was pretty good commercial movie and so did not read any of the reviews and went straight to watch and it definitely did not dissapoint.

The plot of the story is pretty simple, Raghuvaran (Dhanush) is an engineering graduate who does not have a job and also does not want to do any other work except of that of an engineer..As a result of this he is ridiculed by his father (played brilliantly by Samudrakani)...Saranya is Raghu's mother who plays the usual doting mother to an irresponsible son and Raghu's only source of some sympathy in his family..His brother Karthik is three years younger to him but had joined an IT company and earning good money.Raghu's father often compares Raghu to his younger brother, which irks Raghu and sows jealousy in his heart for his younger sibling...There is a point where Raghu gets a good engineering job, courtesy indirectly by his mother...Meanwhile Dhanush's boss bags the Government contract to construct homes to resettle slum dwellers..Obstacle comes in the form of Arun Subramaniam, a rich builder, who wants to somehow stop Dhanush's progress,so that the contract will go to the next lowest bidder,himself...How Dhanush overcomes this hurdle, forms the rest of the story....

First and foremost, Samudrakani has done a really good job as Raghu's father and is very relatable as well. He has quite underplayed the role effectively and his one or two outbursts are also pretty well timed.Saranya Ponvannan as the caring mother has done this role innumerable number of times, but still brings something fresh onscreen and that's the hallmark of a brilliant actor.She is a comic relief at times, but also shows her serious side as well which is remarkable.It seems she cannot age and time has stood still in her case.There is a lot of untapped talent with this realistic actor. His brother, Karthik, has a pretty small role, but does it well. Amala Paul as the girl next door has exactly done what her role demands and sails through it easily.The villain, played by Amitash is quite comical and looks exactly like an "Amul baby" (referred to by Dhanush in the film).He is brought on to the screen to boost Dhanush's image and in the end he is made to look silly. Vivek has a pretty small role, but the veteran has brought in a few laughs. Dhanush-Vivek combo looks pretty good.

Anirudh is one of the biggest strengths of the movie.His songs from the movie are already chartbusters, but what was even more extraordinary was his background score.In my opinion, only Ilayaraja sir and to a certain extent Yuvan can enhance the scenes with great BGM, but now Anirudh is next on that list.He simply uplifts scenes to a whole new level with his brilliant BGM.

Director Velraj (cameraman in most of Selvaraghavan's movies) has done an amazing job with his debut movie. His partnership (chemistry) with Dhanush in many movies earlier, does show on screen and I do feel Velraj is a pretty good  Director to watch out for in the future if VIP is anything to go by.

Last but not in anyway least VIP is a Dhanush show all the way. He has produced the movie,written lyrics and also brilliantly enacted the role of Raghu on the big screen. I never thought a Dhanush movie can be this massy before !! He mouths some pretty good crispy dialogues and shows his class..He definitely reminds Superstar in most of the scenes, maybe he had done it as a tribute to SUPERSTAR in his 25th film. Whatever the reason, Rajini Sir would have been proud of his son-in-law's performance..The only letdown of the movie is the part of the villain, he does not look as big a threat to Dhanush,maybe his role should have been made a little stronger, it would have raised the movie several notches higher..

I have immense respect for Dhanush as an actor and have been following his progres from his "Thulluvatho Ilamai" days.I was one of the many people who ridiculed him in the beginning for his looks,body,etc but he had learned on the job and never stopped learning. Till now I feel "PUDUPETTAI" was one of his best performances and he should have got National award for that movie instead of "ADUKALAM", which was good but not much when compared to Pudhupettai. I also love the fact that he has carved a niche for himself within the industry. When you think of Dhanush now, what comes to mind is an amazing actor with loads of talent, instead of Rajini's son-in-law, that is the strength of his individuality and that is one of his biggest achievements. He has also transcended boundaries, tasted success in the Hindi Film Industry with "RANJHANAA" wherein he learnt and mouthed his own dialogues in Hindi and which went to become a blockbuster. How many would get a chance to work with Amitabh Bachan Sir, but he has, which is a tribute to his hardwork and passion for cinema and his success should also be credited to a huge extent (in his own words) to his brother and maverick Director Selvaraghavan.

My rating for the film is 3.5/5. Go for it guys, it is a good commercial entertainer !!!

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