#Velaikkaran #Movie #MyOpinion

M Raja had already impressed me with his Thani Oruvan (read here: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur62799173/?ref_=tt_urv)..So my opinion on Velaikkaran will be biased..read with this disclaimer.

It's highly difficult to take up a social issue, pack it in a tight plot, describe the issues, make the commercial cinema protagonist to even solve it, that too without making it uninteresting even for a moment. Velaikkaran is almost a success in doing it.

Its always known and seen fact in tamil cinemas, the softcorner towards the working class, and how capitalists are projected as always up to exploit the former. Is it representation of actual tamilIans demography or films have influenced tamils like it, only tamilians know. According to Tamil cinema, there's no socialist mindset present at all. Poor are always exploited by the rich. (REF: UzhaippalI then to Katthi recently). Velaikkaran doesn't deviate from this theme.

Put the hero in a slum. Define his concern to uplift the standard of his people through few instances. Bring the super intelligent villain, in the gentleman disguise in a corporate, where the hero is made to join as Velaikkaran (thankfully he isn't shown to be working as a default factory worker). And the plot is set to take off.

India, being the place of domestic demand, naturally there's supply of million products into the market everyday. Marketers are so confident in producing without even worrying about demand, that MARKETING can ensure whatever is produced gets sold. As a whole, it becomes so much for MARKETING to push, that salesmen are asked to induce the consumer to buy something or of a quantity that's actually not needed by them. In the process, there has emerged a 'taken for granted' attitude among manufacturers that anything can be produced and consumers will buy it or they can be made to buy. (Ref: Maggi Noodles Issue). It is in this context, our hero enters as a salesman, who initially loves the concept of marketing, and with realization of this system, decides to fight against it, in his style.

There are cinematic clichés in the screenplay. There are loopholes. There is a heroine to add colour to the canvas. There's mother sentiment as a tickmark. But, the effort to make the plot tight and engaging can be seen throughout.

I can't say it's the best portrayal of the issue. But, effort to bring the debate on to the front-end must be appreciated. Inline this movie with the likes of Toilet and Katthi.

Watch it as a cinema. Message will get into your head invariably. So much so that I didn't buy my popcorn and coke in the interval, and didn't want to be the marketing induced consumer.

Siva Karthikeyan does a neat job as usual. Nayantara knows her limited role. Robo Shankar, Satish, Balaji, Prakash Rai and many others are evidently used to enhance the face value of the marketing efforts of the movie, like the theme of the movie...consumer doesn't need it, but marketing is pushing us to take it.

-kiran-

Velaikkaran, Mohan Raja's follow-up post his Thani Oruvan revival, tries a little too hard to repeat the success formula of a David vs. Goliath story but ends up a mixed bag. This might be considered Sivakarthikeyan's 'maiden' venture where the character he plays, has a greater mission than 'wooing the next-door girl'. Add a suave 'corporate' Fahadh Faasil to that. Anirudh's by-now-charbuster compositions. Mohan Raja's slick direction (and co-written by his Thani Oruvan writer-duo Subha) coupled with Ramji's visuals. Sounds like a sure shot winner on paper, right?

The final product we receive is a film that entertains partially but is more interested in giving us lectures on what we read in the news (and on social media) every now and then. Yes, it tackles the concept of 'food adulteration' - in a part nonsensical, part docudrama way. The first half is in fact the better of the two - where we get to witness inventively written scenes such as the one where Arivu (SK) does live commentary for a gang war, his struggle when it comes to dealing with the self-proclaimed feudal lord of the area Kasi (Prakash Raj), how his life gets entangled with the 'feminist' Mrinalini (Nayanthara). Even the build-up given to Fahadh Faasil's Aadhi (a cunning corporate fox) is neat. We sense he's smarter than the protagonist, and for obvious reasons.

But Mohan Raja ditches everything 'commercial' in the latter half. The comedy is lacking, there's tonnes of sentiment thrown in (with character after character walking in and out without bringing much to the plate), plus lengthy monologues on the functionality of the FMCG industry. The solutions that it presents for the issues that arise also don't come across as path-breaking. Arivu turns into an activist of sorts, driven forward by the support of the blue collar laborers in the industry, and the transition (from newbie RJ to social crusader) isn't one bit smooth.

What works for the film are the factors I've mentioned: the cinematography is glossy and polished; the music and BGM by Anirudh are excellent and suit the film's tone perfectly (on most occasions), and an excellent Fahadh Faasil (who's debuting in Tamil) who makes the best of an underwritten character. There's no questioning Raja's honest intentions in 'Velaikkaran'. Just that it all blows out of proportion by the time we get to the climax - we see crappy stereotyping such as Corporate Chairmen all being depicted as ruthless, and employees who believe everything on 'face value' (noone's that innocent anymore, duh). Thankfully a social media activism angle is avoided - it's already an overcooked dish.

So, if you're asking me whether you should go for 'Velaikkaran', I'd say watch it comfortably at home when it airs on TV or rent a DVD. 2h 40m isn't a lot of fun at the cinema halls, especially with a second half as dead-weight as this.

Verdict: Had the potential to be better!

Right From The First Sequence It Makes Us Think... How We Are Careless With The High Class Consuming Products..... The Movie Will Make Us Laugh, Cry And To Think Mostly... Dashing Dialogues ..... The Dialogue Delivery & The Simple - But- Smashing Acting From SK... This Is Why Everybody Likes SK... His Charm and Presence In The Screen Is Awesome..... Nayanthara Scores From Her Introduction Scene... Anirudh Is Always The Best...

Mentions:- Sk's Different Dimension Is Shown In The Film....

Verdict:- M. Raja Scores High With His Ability Of Storytelling.......