|
|
EDITOR'S PICK
‘Vallinam’:
power, politics and sports (IANS Tamil Movie Review)
Rating: ***
In India, the fate of a sport lies in the hands of those with power and
political influence. Only those who are privileged get to represent the country
in a respective sport while the rest have to struggle entire lifetime to even
get an opportunity.
Director Arivazhagan's second directorial "Vallinam", which while
addressing the aforementioned points, also highlights the discrimination between
sports and sportsmen and shows how a certain sport like cricket has been
glorified.
Although it might not be as powerfully engaging as Bollywood movie "Chak
De! India", the film has the spirit to celebrate sportsmanship.
An unfortunate accident during an inter-collegiate basketball tournament forces
Krishna (Nakul) to quit playing the game for good and relocate to another city.
From Trichy, he moves to Chennai, hoping to forget the incident and start life
afresh.
But call it destiny or fate; he's forced to play again, but this time to stop
his college management from destroying their basketball court to make way for
the extension of the cricket ground for the upcoming national level cricket
championship, to be hosted by the college.
You can find inspiration from films such as "Lagaan", "Chak De!
India" and several sports-based dramas of the recent past in "Vallinam",
but it manages to maintain some originality in the execution. It might not be a
great film, but considering the fact that we don't have many sports-based films
in Tamil, this is a great effort.
Even with a jagged screenplay that only gains momentum in the second half, the
film manage keeps you hooked for the most part of the running time.
You root for the film when you realize that the actors took the effort to get
trained in basketball, portraying the commitment with which they have prepared.
Some of the best moments of the film unfold in the court, in between the game
and when the ball spins in slow motion on the rim of the basket.
The tension that's accentuated through these moments is testimonial to the fact
that the film has succeeded in entertaining the audience. But what's worrisome
is whether the film will be embraced by all, irrespective of the fact that it
has a college campus as backdrop and it's quite natural to assume it's made for
college students.
"Vallinam" never tries to convince us that basketball is a better game
than cricket. It reminds us that cricket is not the only sport that deserves to
be celebrated in a country where we have other equally popular sports as well.
In this process, it gets little preachy at regular intervals with dialogues that
are purposely written for commercial reasons, but it is understandable from the
point of a view of catering to the masses.
Nakul gives his career’s best performance. He proves that a hero can step out
of the commercial zone and take up roles that can still be liked by audience.
Debutant Mrudhula will shine with proper guidance while the rest of the cast
members are good in their respective roles.
For a change, Thaman's music doesn't make you cringe in your seats. His
background score syncs well with the second half, while Bhaskaran's celluloid
captures the best shots during the basketball games.
Overall, "Vallinam" attempts to blur the line that divides one sport
from another in our country.
Well-known southern composer S.S Thaman on Monday said he will be making his Bollywood debut with Rohit Shetty's "Golmaal Again", the fourth part in the popular franchise.Read More