AL Vijay is one director in Kollywood whom you cannot stereotype, every single flick he has worked on has been different in every aspect, and they all fall under different genre, he join hands with Jayam Ravi who loves experimentation too. Vanamagan, draws heavy inspiration on Hollywood’s superhit comedy "George of the Jungle", only tuning them to suit regional flavor. Heroine of the movie Sayyeshaa as the Rich City girl easily wins over Jayaram Ravi’s efforts, for her expressions, lip sync and the total onscreen presence is definitely the highlight of the movie.
AL Vijay is always known to have drawn inspiration from a lot of Hollywood movies, Vanamagan is no different. The story is nothing different from what you could have made out from the trailer – A man raised in the deeper parts of Jungle comes in terms with the city life, falls in love with a beautiful girl and then heads back to save his tribe from the clutches of modern man’s greed. Flat, done and dusted storyline, Vijay tries to arouse interest by humor, some VFX action sequences, love and a good social message. Jayam Ravi has close to nothing in talk portions, he does his portions well as a lost man and lets his body language do the talking.
As a tribesman, Jayam Ravi’s character tries to communicate with sign language then and there. Its Sayyeshaa’s show all the way, she clearly proves the fact that heroines are not just about being cute or just to shed some skin. Her character is the strength of the movie, she blends into the story and is there almost every other scene, big credits to the director on weighing such a role to a newcomer and not to leave behind her dancing skills, rightly called as "Female Prabhudeva". As a rich girl who falls in love with the tribesman, she deals with her lover’s innocence in a subtle yet lovable way.
The film loses sheen on engaging the audience, in his attempts to do something novel, AL Vijay fails to keep the screenplay interesting. Jayam Ravi’s antics in the city form the key in the movie, but they are not kept on an interesting note with just occasional laughs. The actor’s desperate attempts to give his best is evident on the screen, dark tanned, well-toned body, an innocent lost body language he is definitely at his peak and gets even better with some high voltage acting in the climax. Thambi Ramiah’s repetitive comedy becomes sore after a point and is just plain desperation instead of light hearted humor. An actor like Prakash Raj deserves more scope for acting, which in turn helps the movie itself, sadly he is underutilized.
Technically the film is good, with sharp cuts from Anthony, pleasant BGM aided with Madhan Karky’s broadminded lyrics in the songs, Harris has a field day in his 50th musical. Tirru’s camera work is just about good, the VFX portions are just okish excluding the tiger scene which has come out well. Although song placement is done mediocrely, the songs itself including the visuals are splendid.
Vanamgan has the potential to go big, it had everything you wanted yet failed as the final product. Which is better living? A happy tribe of 200 people minding their own business or a fast paced life in the city where you have everything but peace. AL Vijay’s question through this movie is the key, his execution might be average, but deserves a big pat on the shoulder for experimenting. As again Vijay has made this movie family friendly and can be watched with kids for its variety.
Verdict: Vanamagan has the potential to be a good family entertainer, has some brilliant performances from Sayyeshaa and Jayam Ravi. Average execution and lack of engaging factors makes Vanamagan just an average watch.
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