2023 is here & we already have some mouth watering big banner releases lined up for the first month of the year. The excitement kicked off on Wednesday on the occasion of Pongal with Vamshi Paidipally's "Varisu" up against H Vinoth's "Thunivu" or rather the clash of the box office titans, Thalapathy & Thala. The last time these two icons faced off at the box office was in 2014 when Lalettan joined hands with Vijay for "Jilla" to take on Ajith's "Veeram", with both films more or less sharing the spoils. So who will take the honour this Pongal???
When the trailer of "Varisu" was released, the first thing that struck me was the lavish manner in which it was staged, reminiscent of a pucca Mahesh Babu type of flick. Coming to the plot, I don't think there is any need to even mention it coz it is just an extension of what we saw in the trailer i.e. a family drama that seems to be stuck in the 90s. The only difference being that in those days if the characters boasted about a few crores in wealth, over here it is in 1000s of crores. Essentially, it is about the business tycoon Rajendran (Sarath Kumar) with Vijay being the youngest & the least favoured because of his distinct character among his three sons. As you would have naturally expected, how this son becomes the saviour is what this movie is about.
Even though the credits mention Vamshi along with Hari & Ashishor Solomon as having penned the script, I fail to understand whether they even did anything. It had nothing unique about it with obvious references to "K3G" in some sequences & literally relies on the star power of Vijay to take the movie forward. However, Vamshi's plan to tap into the emotional equations in Rajendran's household might find favour among the family audience. Hence there is a mix of emotions, humour ('Vaathi coming' though felt cringy), romance, action & music to cater to their needs. Surprisingly, the technical aspects were not quite upto the mark. Thaman's music was good, especially 'Jimikki Ponnu' & 'Soul of Varisu' rendered by Chithra while the cinematography was rather vibrant & rich. But the CGI & the art direction was very average to mediocre at times, the stunt choreography was repetitive & unimaginative and Praveen K L's editing could have been far more judicious.
Over the past few years, the roles that Vijay had portrayed denied him the opportunity to put his hair down. In that sense, this character was different & he has done a fine job. Sarath Kumar & Jaya Sudha did their parts aptly while Srikant (as Jai) was ok though Shaam (as Ajay) was pathetic. As for the rest of the cast, Rashmika barely had much to do except show her pretty face, Prakash Raj & Prabhu was wasted while the humour between Vijay & Yogi works in parts.
Verdict: As one would expect it would have a fantastic initial but whether it would be able to sustain it remains to be seen. As a movie, it didn't satisfy me as it was predictable to the extent that we would mouth the lines even before the characters utter it on screen though I felt Thalapathy did a good job. In short, you may give it a try if you are a fan or else, the choice is yours!!!
Rating: 1.75/5
Regards...Ben
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