Vamsam Review

`Vamsam' is a significant movie for reasons a many. Primarily, it is the launch vehicle of Chief Minister Karunanidhi's grandson Arulnidhi, the hero of the movie and the second movie of Pandiraj who had offered `Pasanga' before. Comparing both the movies would be a bad thought because `Pasanga' was special for its own reason and `Vamsam' is different from the usual.

Though rural and rustic scripts have been on the rise thanks to the background of the directors and the enormous scope, a village script can offer, `Vamsam' offers an assortment of entertainment that caters to all sections of the audience and all members of the family. The movie's start itself talks it all. The director introduces the villages involved and the traditional celebrations that take place in these villages.

The Plot

As the title goes, `Vamsam', talks about family heritage, traditions involved and the feud existing among various families. This movie talks about one such grudge between two families, the hero's `Eppadu Pattalum Pirpadu Kedathavar' and the villain's, played by Jayaprakash, `Nanjunda Ma O Si'. The hero is the only descendant of his family. His mother played by Anupama Kumar, brings her son up in a traditional way so that he doesn't glue to his family's ancestral violent nuances. Between all this, a love story happens between Arulnidhi and Sunaina, a bubbly, happy yet brave and courageous girl.

A certain incident entangled with revenge and rivalry takes place. The result leads to the clash of the families again. How Sunaina is involved and what happens to the love story forms the rest of the plot. The movie progresses with unusual and unpredictable twists and turns.

The Ingenious Pandiraj

Pandiraj proved his mettle in narrating in `Pasanga' itself. Therefore consistency and expectations would naturally have to be dealt with, in his second movie! He's fabricated a clever screenplay. The movie talks about feud and revenge, and at the same time, love and peace and combining it with family and traditional values. So the story offers an enormous scope to present variety and director Pandiraj has succeeded in every bit.

Pandiraj has also penned the dialogues for the movie. When it matters, they are subtle and straight forward. A cheerful person he is, he has made sure the fun element in the movie is not lost. Comedy as an ingredient is abundant in the movie. Thanks to Ganja Karuppu and Arulnidhi, a few scenes are quite funny. Scenes to be noted: look out for the hilarious scenes where the villagers face difficulty in accessing their mobile networks. They climb on trees, water tanks and anything reaching the sky, to `get their signal'.

The Characters and Performances

Arulnidhi, the debutant, has performed really well. He seems to be a promising actor and if groomed well, will go a long way. His performance in flirty scenes and his variation for the intense scenes are commendable. Sunaina as the courageous village girl is impressive. Her character will be talked about and so will her performance. Watch out for her!  Anupama Kumar as Arulnidhi's mother has a lot of screen time. She's done her role well.

Now we go to the villain's camp! Jayaprakash seems to be Pandiraj's favourite for important roles. We saw him play a caretaking teacher in `Pasanga' and now he plays the villain in `Vamsam'. As the villain, he is wicked. Rajkumar as Jayaprakash's son has also acted fiercely. As an avenging son, he fits the role perfectly.

The character to take notice of is Kishore. Appearing in the flashback, Kishore plays the role of Arulnidhi's father. Though he comes only for a brief while in the movie, he has made his mark! He's executed an emotion-packed performance! Something similar to what he did in `Porkalam' but an improvised version in this movie.

Technical Supremacy

`Vamsam' though a rural subject has a lot to offer technically. The movie is high on technical standards.

The first technician who will have to be appreciated is Mahesh Muthuswamy, the director of photography. His camera has managed to capture rustic details in every frame. The celebrations in the village, the `jalli kattu' scenes, etc have been shot amazingly that even the villagers may not have been aware of the shots being taken.  The action sequences and chasing scenes have been brilliantly captured as well. Scene to be noted: Watch the scene where Kishore shakes head and so does the camera, giving you a feel of dizziness. Well shot!

The next is stunt director Silva. The hero's not a hunk with muscular physique. Hence the stunt director has adopted an intelligent fight design. The fights are practical and nothing really cinematic.

Music by Taj Noor, who also debuts, is decent but he scores full marks in his background score. The rerecording in the movie, especially during intense scenes holds the grip of the audience. The editor, Yoga Basker also deserves appreciation for his apt pruning, yet further more would have impressed the audience!

The sound department of the movie, i.e. the audiography by Lakshmi Narayanan is classy. He's got hold of valuable sound inputs from the villages, especially during the customary celebrations in the villages. On the whole, kudos to the `Vamsam' Team!

IndiaGlitz Verdict

`Vamsam', is a screenplay rich movie! People in the cities wouldn't know what is happening in the villages and this movie will take you on a journey to those places, entwined with humour, action and love!