VELAIKKARAN

Velaikkaran, a social drama directed by Mohan Raja hits the screens today. With a huge ensemble of supporting stars and Nayanthara playing the female lead, does Velaikkaran live up to the immense expectations? Glance down to know.

Velaikkaran doesn’t follow the tried and tested commercial Tamil film template with comedy taking the front seat. Mohan Raja wastes no time to establish what type of film the audience has paid for, driving the proceedings forward with one powerful message after another, in a pretty engaging manner for the majority of the first half.

Sivakarthikeyan as an ordinary ‘Velaikkaran’ who fights against food adulteration by leading food MNCs including the one that employs him. He in the company of his sidekicks, played by RJ Balaji, Sathish and Robo Shankar, give us a few laughable moments now and then, but Raja is keen not to dilute the intensity in the script. This role is sure to open up more avenues for the actor who is largely looked up for his comedy.

The research the story department has made is commendable and lifts the movie noticeably. The dialogues are extremely powerful and SK delivers them nonchalantly. Watch out for the scene where the director relates MNC workers with local goons.

Post Thani Oruvan, Mohan Raja seems to be a different man altogether. One could see the effort he and his team have put forth for Velaikkaran. The way the MNC strategies are woven around an entertaining first half is where Raja scores his brownie points. However, the second half gets a little superficial and preachy.

The message part in the film also stands out and the element of socialism works to the film's advantage. The art work by Muthuraj looks unbleached and adds value to the script. Not an easy deal to recreate a slum set like the way he has done.

Ramji’s visuals provide the much-needed grandeur to a message-oriented script as such. The slum scenes have a natural and lively treatment, while the song sequences are a treat to the eyes.

Anirudh deserves a round of applause for consistently giving chart buster tracks and helping the film gain hype before release. Karuthavanlaam Galeejaam is one of the most popular tracks of the year and with the visuals, Ezhu Velaikkara could well climb up the charts. Unlike some other Anirudh films, the BGM here is not overpowering and suits the mood of the film. Two romantic numbers are, however positioned as a mere formality.

Sivakarthikeyan’s romance track with Nayanthara does not carry enough weightage as the script does not demand it, yet the ‘Lady Superstar’ is used pretty effectively and she fits the bill perfectly with her modern looks and subtle expressions.

Fahadh Faasil as we know is a very natural actor and one should say he has indeed made an admirable debut in Tamil and is the cynosure of all eyes whenever he is on screen. 

Apart from them, there are many experienced actors like Charlie, Rohini, Sneha and Vijay Vasanth, playing little roles in the overall scheme of things.

The length of the movie is a downer, maybe the second half could have been more crisp. On the whole Velaikkaran has a powerful script with some exciting moments but some may find the film to be preachy.

Karuthavanlaam Galeejaam
Singer: Anirudh Ravichander
Lyrics: Viveka
 

A thara-local kuthu song with modern musical touches that anybody who listens to will immediately know to be the work of Anirudh. He has found the perfect spot in terms of what will click in both a typical pettai as well as the expensive car of the rich urban youth. The song is young but also speaks mature values.
 

Iraiva 
Singers: Anirudh Ravichander, Jonita Gandhi
Lyrics: Viveka

Iraiva is the closest Anirudh has come to a Metallica song and speaks volumes about his international sense of music. The fact that he features in the song video is exciting not just because of that very reason - the actual video with Siva and Nayan awaits us. Jonita Gandhi falls softly, but strongly, on our ears. Listeners can hum and headbang. Enjoy.

Vaa Velaikkara 
Singers: Shakthishree Gopalan, Bjorn Surrao
Lyrics: Vivek

After listening to Vaa Velaikkara, we understand that Anirudh is exploring not just mainstream international musicalities, but also the underground scene. Vaa Velaikkara is fantastically offbeat, and an introduction to trance-psychedelic music that Tamil audiences could not have imagined of better.

Idhayane 
Singers: Anirudh Ravichander, Neeti Mohan
Lyrics: Madhan Karky

Idhayane tries to sound nice and pleasant and does exactly that and no more. Anirudh has not tried to be extravagant, except a little rhythmic play on the piano. The visuals of the duet should help the song become a much more enjoyable experience.

Ezhu Velaikkara  
Singers: Siddharth Mahadevan & Chorus
Lyrics: Viveka

A typical motivational song pushing listeners to get up and 'poraadu', and seems to carry the crux of what forms Velaikkaran as a movie. With the visuals this song is expected to give the needed grandeur for its genre, so let's wait and watch.