Movie review - Vettaiyadu Vilayadu

Vetta-wot!? :)




My first reaction when coming across the DVD lying on top of my uncle's computer desk. Never heard of the movie before. But it had Kamal Haasan on it, and one of Kollywood's top music directors. And the director - Gautham Menon - impressed earlier in Madhavan's Minnale & the cop film, Kaaka Kaaka. And, he's an engineer... :)

Kaaka Kaaka especially stood out for its technical aspects like its slick editing, cinematography and its fast pace and characterisations. I was really impressed with the style of the movie. Its was refreshingly different to the movies churning out of the Indian sub-continent. It was one of my favourite Tamil movies before Anniyan came out. I had reviewed Anniyan in a previous post ages ago.

Take the time to go through Gautham Menon's biography. Its quite impressive, and is a real role model for those aspiring to check out the film making industry. His interviews portray a very down-to-earth sort of person who picked the opportunity to enter the industry and succeeded through getting a smart team (editor, music direcor, artists) to work with him (remnants of Rich Dad, Poor Dad coming out there...)

Soo.. the movie. Rather than rehash earlier reviews of 'stand out' movies, I decided to take a different approach in this blog. A Gautham Menon perspective. How the director would get the movie to look the way it is. I've absolutely no experience in the film industry, so please bear with me.

The best way to make the film you want will probably be to script the story and dialogues the way you would want. As is the case here. Script is ready - probably made in 'super' style to match the main actor's star status. Due to the success of the previous venture, the pressure's on to stick to a story with a winning formula (a bit of a let down, i have to add). The opening fight sequence bears no relevance to the film's theme or hints at any aspect of our hero's character. He is supposed to battle brawn with brain in the rest of the movie. I guess, these are the sacrifices one has to make to cash in on star power and keep a masala movie financially viable.

Ok so now we are into the movie. Some realistic and graphic scenes in the beginning to get the shock factor going. At the same time, an introduction to the hero and a few slick edits to keep the story as racy as possible. Some creative camera-work to complement the editing.

The shock factor gets spread thickly throughout the film to keep the tension going. A love angle to get the audience to feel the hero's trauma when the villain strikes. Excellent music by the master director, Harris Jayaraj, especially the theme song. Harris Jayaraj is the tamil movie industry's answer to Malluwood's Deepak Dev (I believe).

Eventually, after some 'artsy' dialogue delivery and dubbing, the final product is released amidst yellow newspaper gossip and red carpet premieres throughout the world where a high density of South Indians exist like Malaysia or South Africa.

Aaaaahhh.... the life cycle of a movie. Each one must have a different story to tell.


One question... who plays the abducted daughter in the film? She's quite pretty n has a good screen presence.