STR-and-Hansika-Motwani-in-Vaalu-Movie-Stills
There has been a lot of hype surrounding the release of Vaalu, after three years of twists and turns. And this is evident in the film, with actors transforming across scenes. Especially Santhanam, whose look changes between shots. The movie starts off with a scene where Simbu and Santhanam steal a carton of beer wearing masks to resemble Ajith and Vijay. Definitely one of the film’s high points. Because, let’s face it, we’re never going to see Ajith and Vijay on a bike together.
The film’s story is very ‘been there, seen that’. ‘Vetti’ guy falls in love with pretty girl (Hansika’s name is Priya. How do directors not get bored of this name?). Pretty girl is the ‘moraponnu’ of the villain. How he manages to get her is the plot of Vaalu. STR has talent but we don’t get to see much of it in the film, as his character limits himself to dancing, fighting, and orchestrating situations which will make Hansika fall in love with him. And delivering one cheesy dialogue after another.
‘Ponnunga love kokku madhiri, thanni vathi pochu na parandhu poidum, Pasanga love andha thanni la irukara meen madiri, Thanni vatthi pochu naalum angaye irundhu sethudum.’ (A girl’s love is like a stork in water, when water recedes, it flies away. A boy’s love is like the fish in the water, which dies when there is no water left.) Duly noted.
Vaalu certainly gets credit, for being the first film to personify love, and then have a song that bashes it. With thought provoking lyrics like:
‘Neelambari-ya Jessie aakura, aana Jessie-ya yenda Neelambari aakura…”
Pub-ku pora ponna koyilukku anupara, aana koyilukku pora ponna pub-ku anupura..’
The songs reminded me of lyricist Vairamauthu’s remark at an audio launch a while ago, “A good song confuses a listener as to which is better, the lyrics or the music; whereas a bad song makes you contemplate which is worse.”
****
Recommended
Santhanam does his job as the friend who cracks ‘counters’ at the drop of a hat, and a few of his dialogues are quite funny. The story is rather clichéd. Songs, stunt scenes with goons flying through the roof at Simbu’s slightest touch, and corny dialogues are lumped together in a wafer-thin storyline. And the film comes crashing down. Sequences like the fight where rowdies snatch the heroines’s handbag have been parodied in numerous other films, but that does not deter Vijay Chander from having them in the film.
Once, when quizzed about why Vaalu was facing so many delays, T Rajendar said that the title sounded like something long, and so the movie would take a long time to complete. No tall tale, this: watching Vaalu can be a long and tedious affair.
*****
The Vaalu Review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have an advertising relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.