Like Kaadhal Kirukkan , Girivalam too is a
faithful remake of a Hindi film, that in turn borrowed elements from more than one
Hollywood film. But it turns out to be unsuccessful for the same reason as Kaadhal
Kirukkan - its cast. While that one was let down by an overperforming Parthiban, who
tried to inject his brand of comedy into what was essentially a thriller, Girivalam
is let down by its uncharismatic, underperforming cast.
Arjun(Shaam) heads a dance troupe and Priya(Roshini), one of the dancers in the troupe
is in love with him. Their aim is to be the permanent fixture at the hotel of
Giriprasad(Richard), a millionaire. They lose the competition but still see their dream
realised when the lead dancer in the winning troupe dies. Soon, Giriprasad falls for
Priya and his sincerity makes her reciprocate his feelings.
Girivalam's story has several twists and turns that may be surprising to the viewer
not familiar with the original films. The director has remained faithful to the
Hindi film for the most part and this has helped since the original was directed by
a pair of directors experienced in directing thrillers. So the film is entertaining
for the most part.
But the weak and uncharismatic actors in the key roles reduce the effectiveness of the
story and its situations. For instance, Richard falls for Roshini after seeing her outside
his suite. But Roshini's vulgar dress and her silly dance outside Richard's door would
have prompted any man to call the nearest mental hospital or atleast security, let alone
fall in love at first sight!
The movie gets too convoluted for its own good towards the end. There is a nice surprise
when the identity of the man lying dead in Richard's house is revealed. Until that point,
the movie holds our interest since the characters' actions are logical. But after that,
the motivations of the characters stop making sense and their behavior is obvious as
being dictated by the need to wrap the movie up. I was also not happy with Richard getting
off scot-free inspite of some not-so-nice actions before.
Shaam, quite possibly the unluckiest actor in Tamil cinema right now, does well in a
negative role. Richard is adequate as the millionaire but is not able to carry it off
when he is required to be aggressive later in the film. Roshini has trouble emoting,
which is a problem since she has quite an important role. Ramesh Khanna struggles to
make us laugh.
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