Yatchan Review

Kollywood has seen several movies that arise out of a certain chaotic situation, the core plot of the movie chugs towards a specific scene where the lives of the characters change forever. ‘Yatchan’ is one such movie that has two heroes with absolutely no relation to each other with varied personalities get to cross paths after a simple mistake and what happens then forms the crux. Vishnuvardhan is back in action again, he has directed Ajith in ‘Aarambam’ and has included enough Thala references in Yatchan to make Ajith's fan go ga-ga. Let’s find out what’s in store for Yatchan.

The movie is based on a story with the same name which was published in a Tamil Magazine, Vishnu and writer duo Subha have weaved out a screenplay that gives equal weightage to the lead characters Arya and Kreshna; Arya plays a local goon who thrives on gambling and petty work until he accidentally kills someone(for tearing up Thala movie tickets!) and goes on the run. Elsewhere is Kreshna, a guy who breathes, lives and sleeps with one goal; to become an actor at any cost supported by his ladylove Swathi. Vishnu takes time to build the personalities of duos, Arya as a ruffian who has nothing to lose, a character he has exhibited excellence from his ‘Arindhum Ariyamalum’ and ‘Pattiyal’ days. Kreshna as an aspiring actor, lives to excel his dream of acting and tries without losing hope, a different attempt from the upcoming actor. Both of them arrive in Chennai with different intentions, and Vishnu takes a lot of time in establishing the eagerness on how these two would crossroads, thanks. All these and Vishnu also spins the story of Deepa who is gifted with unusual powers of foreseeing the future, and the plot to assassinate her forms the story, why, how, are some questions ‘Yatchan’ will answer.

‘Yatchan’ is a multi-starrer not just because of its lead heroes, but it has other prominent actors playing important roles too, Thambi Ramiah fill the comedy space through the first half as he tries to convince Arya in plotting a bloody murder, RJ Balaji as the desperate Romeo slash rowdy, his role sends you in laughs, the talented Adhil Hussain makes debut in Tamil Cinema, Yee Gee Mahendran, MS Bhaskar, Robo Shankar and SJ Suryah too in a brief cameo. The best part is how the director somehow makes use of all members of the ensemble cast not just for the sake of inclusion.

Yatchan entertains on many aspects, the multi-starrer quotient, comedy, thrills and gives a sense of anticipation upon what happens when the lead actors cross roads, makes you wonder what next.  Arya is best when it breaks down to the comic mixed action role, he does that perfectly here as a die hard Thala fan with various references right from the start to the end. Kreshna on the other hand, after ‘Yamiruka Bayame’ has improved heavily in his acting skills, wanting to become a big actor, he fills the shoes amicably, but does leave behind room for improvements too. The heroines of the movies too do not just fill the spaces left behind by hero, but rather have a meaty role, Swathi as the sweet girlfriend and Deepa as the mystical girl with powers serving their purpose.

That said Yatchan tries to shuttle between different genres and confuses an average viewer on what to expect, a thriller or a comedy? Like for instance, just when you see Kreshna and Deepa making in the run after shooting a cop you would expect a twist or thrilling set of events to unfold, but what follows are a series of comical sequences and then a song! The plot just suffers too many sequences like this which is not filled with the apt ingredients. Somehow the use of Thala references is becoming a trend and one too many has been essayed in ‘Yatchan’. The movie itself starts with how Deepa acquires the accidental Nostradamus kind of foreseeing power, but the plot doesn’t give enough justification and somehow it appears the story would have worked even without such a theme.

In terms of technicalities, Yuvan scores high on BGM and a few songs, the composer's class act dawns well at certain action sequences. Om Prakash's cinematography is a big plus too, captures the true essence of the movie, the different shades between the two lead characters is one such example.

Ergo, Yatchan scores heavily in terms of being a multi-starrer, but weighs down due to some edgy screenplay that drags the length of the movie.

Click here to Watch Why Vishnuvardhan chooses Ajith and not Vijay or Suriya