Action, mass, sentiment, comedy - you name it and you get it! That’s what director Siva promises with his latest Ajith starrer ‘Veeram’. The cinematographer turned director who directed ‘Siruthai’ in Tamil earlier has also got a flurry of Telugu masala flicks to his credit which are enough credence for his reputation to promise a minimum guarantee for a mass hero like Ajith and the distributors alike.
Veeram keeps things simple and straight - a middle aged Vinayagam (Ajith) with a golden heart along with his four younger brothers leads a carefree bachelor life and believes that a woman in his life would split the family. In comes Kopperundevi (Tamannah), who by mistake steals Vinayakam’s heart, amply aided by the gimmicks of his younger brothers and Perumal (Santhaanam). The story has still got some challenges for our hero in order to wipe off the scumbags and so he takes up violence in order to restore peace for his lady love.
The first half was light-hearted and was right in the zone of Santhaanam where he made merry along with Ajith and company. It was packed with action and comedy in the right proportions keeping some measured dialogs and scenes in order to levy Ajith’s mass image to usher in the mass hysteria from his loyal fan base. That has worked out pretty well!
But the carefully laid out plan in the script for the first half was extended beyond its scope in the latter half and added to it there were some unnecessary action blocks and a few songs that prompted too many fag breaks.
There were far too many in the supporting role - among them Nasser, Thambi Ramaiah and Appukutty were recognizable. The villains - Pradeep Rawat and Atul Kulkarni, as in any mass hero's movie, were reduced to jokers, though Atul was given a relatively fierce role even though it was no match to Ajith's fiersomeness!
Technically the film was no where and it was not meant to be. The action sequences were pretty standard and fitted into the action template that has been set for such movies. Music of Devi Sri Prasad also had a template which he is adamant about changing due to dearth of creativity.
The movie though riddled with tons of logical loopholes, rehashed sentiments and is a mockery to our sensitivity, was well supported with a fast paced screenplay that entirely dwelled on Ajith’s charisma and mass appeal and comedy in the first half, thanks to Santhaanam.
Rating: 2 / 5
Verdict: Worth a Watch (Not a Must Watch)
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