‘Varuthapaadaatha Valibar Sangam’ entertains

It’s been a while since I wrote anything on this blog. A lot of things have happened in the meantime. Microsoft bought Nokia at literally throwaway prices. And, I discovered that kind-hearted good Samaritans host all the latest Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi movies on Youtube.

Happened to see three recent released – ‘Varuthapadaatha Valibar Sangam’, starring Sivakarthikeyan, Soori and Sri Divya, ‘Ya Ya’, starring Siva, Santhanam, Sandhya and Dhanshika, and ‘Raja Rani’, starring Arya and Nayantara.

 

‘Varuthapaadaatha Valibar Sangam’ (VVS)

Director: Ponram

Dialogues: M. Rajesh (dialogues)

Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Sathyaraj, Sri Divya, Soori and others

Music: D. Imman

The film kind of grows on you.

This one is a stylishly shot adorable village-based film. Sivakarthikeyan is Bosepandi, President of Silukuvarpatti’s Varuthapaadaatha Valibar Sangam. Sathyaraj is Sivanandi, the man the entire village is afraid of. Reputation and family honor is more important to him than anything else in the world. Worried that his daughter might fall in love with someone, he arranges for her wedding when she is in her Class XI.

Bosepandi has a mighty crush on a school teacher and passes the love letters through Lathapandi. When he sees posters of the under-aged Lathapandi’s impending marriage, he intervenes and prevents it. She continues going to school; the teacher gets married to someone else, a heartbroken Bosepandi falls in love with Lathapandi after she completes her Class XII.

Do they get married or are the rumors that Sivanandi shot them dead, true?

Sathyaraj is a revelation in his role as Sivanandi. It’s a delight to watch him.

The songs are nice, so is the background music that one hears whenever Lathapandi-Bosepandi interactions occur. I’m a particularly big fan of the ‘Sivanandeee…’ bit.

Humor is extremely enjoyable. There is nothing forced about it. The dialogues are very much enjoyable. This is the kind of film you’d want to watch over and over again. And, each time you will discover something new to enjoy.

Then, there is ‘Ya…Ya’. Just because you have managed to sign up Santhanam, doesn’t mean you can ignore other formalities like story, coherent screenplay or the little thing called logic.

And, why the blatant insult to Ramarajan? A long time ago, he was a box office hit. Agreed, his costumes were not exactly Italian designer kind, but his films usually had a good story, great music and they did well at the box office.  One can’t say the same about ‘Ya..Ya…’ Ramarajan should probably sue the filmmaker for the extreme slander.  

Third on the list is ‘Raja Rani’. There are stylish films and then there are films that try hard to be stylish. RR belongs to the second category. Nayantara is my favorite actress. Arya doesn’t seem to have anything much to do other than smirk and shrug.

The second heroine, Nazriya Nazim, goes overboard with her facial circus. After a while it looks very phony.

Jai’s role is entertaining, but why exactly does he leave Nayantara standing outside the registrar office and run away to America?

some very important things have not been explained - why does Nayantara hate Arya so much? Why does she bear no grudges against her lover who stood her up outside the registrar office? Why are Christians synonymous with beer and drinking in Indian films?

There's Sathyaraj in this film too, but this one doesn't endear him like 'VVS' does.

Entertaining, but not the kind of film that deserves a second viewing.