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EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: **
Vijay, touted to be the next Tamil
superstar, continues to ride on worn-out masala films without any attempt at
novelty.
Vettaikaran, directed by debutant Babu Sivan, is Vijay`s 49th film
and the actor seems to be satisfied with the no-risk commercial formula to
maintain his position in the industry. The movie, however, fails to live up to
expectations even as a commercial flick, as it seems like a collage of many
previous films made in the same genre by directors like Dharani, Hari and
Perarasu.
We have seen in umpteen movies, a youth coming to the city to study or find a
livelihood but getting caught in the web of all-powerful villains and their hit
men. And of course, the powerful villain would remain the most dreaded guy only
until he meets the hero, who goes on to single-handedly wipe out his entire
regime.
Vettaikaran follows the same path of movies like Pokkiri,
Bhagavathy, Thiruppachi and Thenavattu among
many others.
The storyline goes like this: Ravi Alias Police Ravi (Vijay), a Tuticorin guy
comes to Chennai to become a police officer like his idol Devaran IPS (Sri Hari).
He meets Susheela (Anushka Shetty) at the railway station and instantly falls
for her.
While love blossoms in Chennai, Ravi locks horns with Chella, the son of local
don Vedhanayagam (Salim Ghosh). Ravi tames Chella and earns the rivalry of
Vedhanayagan.
In the meantime, Ravi is shocked to know that his idol Devraj IPS has lost his
career, eyesight and his family because of Vedhanayagam. While Vedhanayagan
makes life worse for Ravi by using his hold over the police.
Ravi escapes the trap and becomes a powerful gang leader to counter Vedhanayagam.
Ravi, with moral support from Devaraj, puts an end to Vedhanayagam and his gang
with his intelligence and muscle power.
While the first half moves on quickly, the second half tends to drag. The
cliched scenes don`t help either. The movie has grossly failed to entertain, as
it is nothing but a `copy-paste` exercise by Babu Sivan.
Vijay looks charming and emotes well but he has nothing new to offer, as he is
playing such a role for umpteenth time. It is also frustrating to see Vijay, who
has acted in so many films, trying to copy the style of Rajnikant.
Gorgeous Anushka spices up the proceedings with her stunning beauty and screen
presence. However, like many other Vijay flicks, the heroine doesn`t get any
scope to perform. Other actor like Sri Hari and Salim Ghosh pass muster.
Gopinath does a neat work with his camera but music director Vijay Antony fails
to impress. However, two of the songs - Naan Atichcha and Karikalan
Kaalu - sound good.