Vaanavarayan Vallavaraayan – Official Trailer
And, over the course of the movie, these two small town “heroes” are pulled into several youthful shenanigans in their search for love and happiness. Most of them being only mildly funny. Vaanu, with his perfectly waxed chest and unbuttoned shirt (better to show off said chest, see?) and the huge Royal Enfield, definitely looks the part. But when he spews a few words in Kovai dialect – add to his already accented Tamil – it begins to look very unreal.
While Ma Ka Pa makes a strong and flamboyant debut as Vaalu – the precocious younger sibling who blames everything on Napoleon (the drink, not the man) – his inappropriate humour makes us cringe.
Though billed as a complete entertainer, Vaanavarayan Vallavarayan is quite short on laughs. At least, on the ones that are “family-friendly”. Nearly every “wisecrack” that comes from Ma Ka Pa is a little sexist and vulgar. Kovai Sarala too has some of these lines, but they probably sound the worst when dear old paati (played by Sowcar Janaki, with her bright white hair and quirky sunglasses) mouths them.
Thambi Ramaiah and Jayaprakash are sorely wasted in their roles while Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is at odds with the tone of the film. The tracks are peppy and neatly pictured, yes, but the background score is a little too generic.
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A sore point with Vaanavarayan Vallavarayan is perhaps the casting. Monal Gajjar looks ill at ease in the role of a village belle, torn between her love for the obviously unsuitable Vaanu, and her family. The startlingly purple contact lens that she wears provides some welcome distraction. But during those moments when they do match her even more startlingly purple outfits, she quite literally shines on screen. To be fair to her though, her role doesn’t warrant much acting.
Jayaprakash on the other hand, is a misfit here. He doesn’t look too comfortable with his look onscreen and his unease seeps into his character. The usually dependable actor is forced to mouth lines about ‘kudumba manam’ and ‘garvam’…which we obviously don’t buy into. Ma Ka Pa’s wisecracks do help the clichéd narrative a little, but they do wear us out after a while.
The best portions of the film, though, belong to the brothers. They hug out problems, fight like maniacs and generally love each other to death. And after a while, Monal’s character in the film becomes completely irrelevant.
We don’t really mind then, because, it’s a bro show through and through.
The Vaanavarayan Vallavarayan 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.