After making a grown-up man and a young boy switch bodies and giving form to a person's thoughts,
S.J.Suryah breaks down another science fiction barrier in Tamil cinema by tackling the issue of
cloning. Badly done as they are, the sci-fi aspects are the least of the film's problems. Suryah's
irritating performance combined with lack of logic, abundant sleaze and artificial, misplaced sentiments
make Vyaabaari a truly dreadful motion picture. Several people are opposed to cloning and this
movie has made me their ally since without cloning, Vyaabaari wouldn't have been made!
Suryaprakash(S.J.Suryah), a businessman owning more than 350 businesses, neglects even his family as
he singlemindedly pursues his goals of becoming
the most successful businessman in India and earning 1 Rupee more than Bill Gates' wealth. Savitri(Tamanna),
a college
girl, loves him because of his dedication and work ethic and wants to marry him. Surya does marry her
but with different ideas - she is a great cook and he launches a restaurant line with her as the head
chef. As it becomes impossible to juggle family and business life, Surya clones himself with the help
of a scientist. So he is now free to pursue his business while his clone takes care of his family but
the clone has different ideas.
The movie actually sets up an understandable situation for Suryah to resort to cloning. It gives us
a businessman for whom work takes preference over family (though, as usual, it exaggerates his work
ethic) and it gives him a family that misses him. The others in his family are given short shrift
but if we manage to put aside Suryah's overacting and irritating style, Tamanna's situation manages
to raise our sympathy. She is quite dumb too(after all, she declares that she is in love with Suryah
after just reading about him and agrees to wed him even after seeing how money-minded he is) but
she manages to make us feel for her as she yearns for her husband's love and affection.
The disdain with which the movie treats the topic of cloning is almost unbelievable. Sure, this is a
masala entertainer and not a serious film about the repercussions of cloning but is it wrong
to expect just a little bit of logic, coherence and general adherence to the principles of science
even in an entertainer? The clone for some reason walks like a robot(he even does a slo-mo walk - in
a urinal, of all places - after delivering a punchline, making it the funniest slo-mo scene I've seen
in awhile in Tamil cinema) but seems capable of doing everything else. He seems to hang around in
the same vicinity as his original, with no one noticing them(or getting confused if they do notice
them). Compared to Vyaabaari , New and even
A Aa seem like airtight science fiction classics!
With S.J.Suryah as hero, the abundance of sleaze doesn't come as a surprise (though the extent of
sleaze in some scenes is still a surprise). Malavika's inclusion in a throwaway role is obvious as
a tactic to increase the glamor quotient and Namitha keeps her reputation intact after her arrival.
But its in the attempts to wed sleaze and sentiments that the movie fails miserably. Atleast in
New, the 'mother sentiment' didn't rear its head noticeably until the end. But here it
coexists with the vulgarity and that makes the movie seem curiously distasteful. As the clone
talks tearfully about family after a raunchy sequence with Namitha, the whole thing becomes
surreal and disorienting.
Abandoning all the possibilities that could be explored in a movie about cloning, the movie resorts
to the old 'mistaken identity' ruse to get laughs but goes about it so clumsily that it elicits
groans instead of laughs. Each sequence where the original and the clone switch places(unintentionally
or voluntarily) is poorly thought out and executed in even worse fashion. The director's failure in
comedy is evident from the fact that he is unable to get laughs from Vadivelu being in a Spider-man
costume - a gag that should have made us laugh the moment we laid eyes on it.
This might be the first movie where the same actor could be accused of both overacting and underperforming!
S.J.Suryah is his usual self - overacting, overexpressive, loud and irritating as the businessman. He
utters every line like it was a punchline(which takes on a new meaning since everytime he utters a line,
we want to punch him!). The clone role really exposes his acting limitations. Supposed to be a character
who is innocent and gradually learns about everything, Suryah plays him like a mentally retarded person
given to wild mood swings! Tamanna looks good and also makes an impression inspite of the chaos around
her. Malavika and Namitha do what they were brought on for - lessen the costume budget and make
suggestive overtures at Suryah as they flirt with him.
Suryah's personal motto - and punchline - in the film is 100% Vyaabaari. The film itself is
100% torture!
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