Vattaaram is probably the best example of the shift in the tone of gangster movies in Tamil cinema.
When Saran made a movie with a rowdy as hero in 2002, it was Gemini , a
complete masala entertainer with the familiar rowdy-with-heart-of-gold as hero, an over-the-top
villain, diluted violence and large dollops of comedy, sentiments and romance. But Vattaaram, his
return to the genre, is darker, has a larger canvas and features a protagonist painted in broader shades of
gray. It is fast-paced and entertaining but also familiar. And Saran's unwillingness to go the whole way
makes it less effective.
Ever since he was a boy, Burma(Arya) has nursed the ambition to be like Gurupaadham(Napolean), a rich,
powerful dada and the ambition is now tinged with a desire for revenge since Burma's father was unjustly
kicked out by Gurupaadham. Burma bides his time until he gets a chance to join Gurupaadham's gang and
quickly becomes an important henchman. Gurupaadham's trusts him fully against the warnings of his
liteunant Siraa('Kaadhal' Dhandapani) while Gurupaadham's daughter(Kiran Bhattal) falls for Burma too.
But Burma hasn't forgotten his goal.
Revenge stories, where a son avenges what was done to his father, are a dime a dozen in Tamil cinema. But
the path of the revenge is usually overt and straightforward. Even if the villain doesn't know the identity
of the hero, he knows that the hero is gunning for him. But things are a little different here. Arya is part
of Napolean's inner ring and is trusted by him but inwardly, he is constantly plotting Napolean's downfall
and his own rise to that spot. So his actions have to be on the sly and that makes things interesting.
The way he executes some of his plans(like the lorry accident) are clever and a couple of them are
surprising even to us.
We've been used to Tamil cinema's heroes being good for a long time now and so any hero straying on the
dark side automatically captures our interest. Arya here is one such hero. He knows what he wants and is
willing to go to any lengths to achieve that. But Saran isn't ready to paint him completely black and so
makes a couple of concessions. The story of Arya's dad feels tacked on just to give his actions a moral
reason. Its like Saran thought that Arya couldn't be seen doing all he does just to take Napolean's place
and so throws revenge into the mix. So though Arya is pretty coldblooded at a couple of places, it isn't
as shocking because Arya has a motive. Similarly, Arya's romance with Kiran is not your everyday Tamil
cinema romance. But the film's last line feels odd and erases the uniqueness that came before it.
Saran has never had much luck with comedy. The comedy sequences in his movies, usually involving the likes
of Charlie, Dhamu and Vaiyapuri, are terrible and serve no purpose other than interrupting the flow of the
movies and slowing down their pace. Here he employs Ramesh Khanna and Vaiyapuri but the results are the same.
Ramesh Khanna has come funny comments when he tags along with Arya but his segments with Vaiyapuri, brought
in on the pretext that they run a store, are plain bad. In fact, since the movie is less lighthearted than
usual Saran efforts, the effect of the interruptions on the movie is more than usual.
Arya's weak voice is a real downer the first time we hear it. But he gradually makes us get over it.
Thankfully, he isn't made to utter any punch dialogs. Kiran Bhattal appears to be another of those
one-film heroines and doesn't make an impression. Napolean is dignified but his dialog delivery at times
belies his high-class living. Adhisaya catches our eyes based solely on her dialog delivery. She is
refreshingly casual when talking.
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