Directors with a signature style and sensibility have always struggled to break into the masala zone of mainstream cinema. Vaa Vaathiyaar is the new movie by Nalan Kumarasamy, starring Karthi. If you look at the idea behind this movie, it is almost like Nalan trying to replicate the style of a Shankar movie by incorporating a few quirky elements that are typically seen in Nalan’s films. In an interview before Vaa Vaathiyaar, Nalan had openly admitted that this movie is not necessarily for those who loved him after watching his first two movies, Soodhu Kavvum and Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum. Well, even if someone who has no idea who Nalan is watches Vaa Vaathiyaar, they would all feel that the basic concept of using a known figure in a worn-out template was nice. But the flow of events lacked the finesse one would expect in a movie with a broad canvas.
Officer Rameshwaran is our central character. He was born on the same day MGR died, and his grandfather, who was a diehard MGR fan, considered him the reincarnation of MGR, aka Vaathiyaar. Even though his grandfather wanted him to be the MGR we all have seen on screen in terms of personal values, practical life took Ramu in a different direction. What we see in the movie is the drama that unfolds in Ramu’s life when the normal Ramu has to face the MGR in him.
There is a fantasy element in the story, and if you look at how a real-life person’s aura is getting utilized here, the concept is impressive. In the second half, there are even moments where we would feel, if MGR were present today, Lokesh Kangaraj may have made a movie with him this way. The problem is with the treatment. Karthi dressing up like MGR in a Nalan Kumarasamy movie feels like a quirky idea. However, Nalan suppresses that quirky aspect significantly and gives more space to the vigilante justice aspect of the script. Because of that, the fun part of the movie is getting reduced, and if we try to look at the drama in the story or the character arcs, everything feels extremely fragile.
There is a point in the movie where the hero stops worshipping MGR, and I thought that was an impressive and creative conflict for a film like this. But Nalan decides to ignore that track and goes after the more generic idea of being the saviour. In the pre-release interview, when Nalan was asked what he considers a masala movie, he said it should have action, songs, larger-than-life moments, sentiments, etc. If you observe Vaa Vaathiyaar, one can actually see Nalan deliberately trying to dilute his signature wacky and irreverent style to fit the mold of a template masala movie. The songs are there because, for a theater experience, we somehow need a song in the film. The fights are there because we need to include a setpiece to tick all the checkboxes.
Karthi, as an actor, has an eye for unique subjects, and even when these movies fail to rise to the expectations, his performances always matched the movie’s pitch. Vaa Vaathiyaar is also one such movie where his ability to play the eccentric style with control makes the viewing experience comfortable for the audience. There are portions in the film where he is impersonating the MGR style, and it never really goes to a mockery of the legend. Rajkiran, the go-to good “Thatha” of Tamil cinema, was fine as the die-hard MGR fan. This is technically Krithi Shetty’s debut film in Tamil, and even though she is not a showpiece heroine, there isn’t much to do here for her character. Sathyaraj and Nizhalgal Ravi get these poorly written negative roles that rarely challenge them in any way.
Ideally, Vaa Vaathiyaar should have been a sight of Nalan Kumarasamy exploring something new and big. But when you watch Vaa Vaathiyaar as an admirer of Nalan’s previous works, you can see him thinking the way he usually approaches scenes and then tweaking them to match the crowd-pleasing loud template of masala cinema. There is a funny scene at the beginning of the movie that addresses the weird uniform of Karthi in the film. The movie’s reluctance to hold on to that kind of humor limits it from exploring different stuff, and thus, most of the characters in the film end up looking like background artists.
