Vemal who tasted success with light hearted rural comedies has turned producer with 'Mannar Vagera' a wannabe wholesome family entertainer directed by Boopathi Pandian. Whether this pre-sixties storytelling would appeal to modern viewers remains to be seen.
Vemal is the younger son of a respected village elder Prabhu who has written his final year Law exam and awaiting results. He sets his eyes on a bubbly college girl Anandhi and wins her heart. His elder brother Karthick Kumar is a meek guy who consumes poison when Chandini Tamilarasan, the girl he loves is about to be married to her cousin. Vemal abducts her from the marriage hall and gets the couple married. The girls brother and the boys brother become the hero's enemies and vow to kill him. Anandhi also happens to be the sister of Chandini and whether Vemal subdues his enemies and marries the girl forms the rest of the meandering screenplay.
Vemal as Mathi the rural youth is ok in the lighter scenes but in the mass hero styled fight sequences exposes his shortcomings. Anandhi has so far been cast in melancholy and tragic roles but in this one she gets to be a bubbly character which she has done well and her comedy timing too works out at a few moments. Karthick Kumar and Chandini Tamilarasan as the second pair have done their jobs without much ado. Prabhu, Saranya, Meera Krishnan and Jayaprakash as the senior couple show their experience while Vamsi Krishna as the elder brother of the girls has look menacing in all the scenes and finally wilt down for no reason at all. Robo Shankar and Singam Puli appear throughout the film but not even one of their antics manage to evoke any laughter. In comparison Yogi Babu appears in a one minute scene at the fag end of the movie and still manages to bring the house down. In Julie's first appearance on the big screen she gets a few seconds screen time and is not even allowed to complete a dialogue.
Watching the taxing 'Mannar Vagera' the positives that one can think of is that the film wants to glorify family bonding and there are no double entendres in the comedy.
On the downside the writer director has taken the audience for granted and without establishing any character wholly he wants them to root for the brothers Vemal and Karthick Kumar, Saranya and her brother (who is never shown on screen) and Prabhu and his sons. There are logical loop holes galore and the screenplay travels without direction and the two hours odd hours seem like never ending.
On the technical side the camera work P.G. Muthaiah and Sooraj Nalluswamy is clean throughout with the songs colorfully shot and the angles in the fights almost makes one believe Vemal is an action hero. Gopi Krishna with his cuts provides a smooth flow of images and he is not to blame for the drag. Boopathi Panidan's forte is comedy and that fails miserably in this one and the rest of the half baked sentimental sequences dont work either. Unfortunately for Vemal his maiden production venture turns out to be a family masala that is mixed disproportionately.
Verdict : Go for it if you fancy family dramas with a huge star cast
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