Review for VALIMAI:
•Language: TAMIL.
•Duration: 02 Hours 58 Minutes.
•Genre: Action Thriller
Theatre: JB Cinemas Nallila, Kollam.
•REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI.R
• POSITIVES:
1: AJITH KUMAR’S PERFORMANCE
2: DIRECTION.
3: STORY, SCREENPLAY AND DIALOGUES.
4: CINEMATOGRAPHY
5: MUSIC AND BACKGROUND SCORE.
7: EDITING.
8: ACTION SEQUENCES.
9: THRILLING BIKE STUNTS.
8: WORK OF TECHNICAL TEAMS.
• NEGATIVES:
1: PREDICTABILITY
2: SOME ROUTINE FAMILY CLICHES.
3: SECOND HALF AT SOME POINT HAS LOST THE GRIP.
•ONE WORD: Fascinating bike stunts with engaging actions, Ajith Kumar Shines brilliantly.
•STORY IDEA:
Valimai unfolds the life of Arjun Kumar, a sincere IPS police officer who is on a mission to hunt down a biker gang who are involved in various theft and murder. Will be able to hunt down the gang and it’s various incidents is the rest of the story.
•ANALYSIS INTO DIRECTION, STORY, SCREENPLAY & DIALOGUES:
Valimai is directed and written by the hitmaker H.Vinoth and produced by the famous producer Boney Kapoor. The movie comes under the production company of Bayview Projects LLP
And Zee Studios and the film in Kerala is distributed by E4 Entertainments. With a running time of 02 Hours and 58 minutes the movie is currently running in theatres.
Valimai, it’s a packed thrilling entertainer, the signature of a confident filmmaker was evident all over the film, the director H.Vinoth had once again proved his brilliance, he is capable of doing any large scale film. What makes Valimai special is his making, the direction was mostly composed in the right manner with a good screenplay. When looking together the writing and direction went on an equal momentum and the film had managed to land safely with a duration of nearly three hours. The most highlighting factor of Valimai is the movie doesn’t make any lag, the three hours of duration was filled with many interesting, thrilling and exciting ideas so the movie provides a fully engaging watch. From the very beginning, it was clear that the movie will be a racy thriller and when the movie tracks into the actual plot the film keeps on surprising us by the appealing visuals and by the fabulous stunts. So the movie was entertaining and it will hook everyone till the end and one won’t feel the lengthy duration of three hours.
How the director victoriously used the star value of Ajith Kumar is very important, H. Vinoth as a director had authentically utilised the talents of Ajith Kumar. His screen presence and its impact which we can see on the large screen was tremendous. Ajith Kumar’s roaring dialogue, his way of style, his attitude, his fight, his bike stunts were filled in the screen with a great impact so his screen presence was guaranteeing an unlimited mass of elements. The director had studied and certainly understood all the things that the audience would be expecting from a star like Ajith Kumar, so he formulated the movie with his set of skills and capabilities and conducted each and everything to showcase his talents. We all know Ajith Kumar is a champion on doing races but in his films his talents in performing bike stunts are always rare but here the director H. Vinoth makes that complaint go away. He has successfully used his bike skills and shown us that Valimai is also about Ajith Kumar’s dangerous gigantic bike stunts and it’s a sure shot visual treat.
The primary subject which the film focuses on is very significant, how the youth get destroyed, how their thinking is going wrong and why the youth are getting into drugs and who all are behind it and what makes them follow the dirty path was convincingly told in the movie. Unemployment and its aftereffect on the youth is a serious matter, the youth can be easily exploited so here the story of Valimai is focusing on these issues and the director H. Vinoth had amazingly built a script based on these sensible matters. Into this, H. Vinoth had brought a promising intriguing crime backdrop of an investigation comprising a thrilling cat and mouse game of the hero and villain. Those cat and mouse play is something we have witnessed before but the added elements in the screenplay are offering something new. The bike race and their stunts, robbery using bikes, fights using bikes are largely focused and so the significance of bikes and it’s stunts play a vital role and these were enhanced to the screenplay brilliantly. Therefore while watching the film we will get a different experience, an action that we haven’t felt before will flow through our mind.
What didn’t go well for Valimai was the second half, it was encircled with many cliches and the predictability was slightly killing the thrill. The mid-portion of the movie was going with the mother-son relationship and its love. It was good but was not precisely matching the flow of the film. In many areas, it was unnecessarily added and one may feel a diversion from the actual plot. The trust and love of a mother are divine and their love towards their son is unimaginable, towards the end the film is focusing on these aspects but was not having an effective connection because those scenes were lacking with an actual depth. Another issue is the predictable way of storytelling, the twist and surprise are there but it is easily understandable. The interval twist was supposed to make a punch but sadly haven’t, at that moment I wish H. Vinoth could have focused more on the screenplay to make it more exciting. Some scenes between the protagonist and antagonist were also missing an impact, their cat and mouse play at the mid-portion of the second was following the regular style of the police investigation. The villain getting trapped should have been shown better. Also in the mid-second half how the villain makes his moves to end the hero by using his family was not that much influencing, it was also like a routine cliche. But still, all these small errors are balanced with the making and the stellar technical brilliance will make these flaws blow away.
The dialogue in the movie by H. Vinoth was influential to a large extent. The mass dialogue by Ajith Kumar was creating many cheerful moments, and the dialogues were also written according to his style. The socially responsible dialogues told in the movie matched the situations. The mother-son relationship was shown and it was having some touching moments because of some powerful words. The dialogues between the characters especially between the villain and hero were excellent, their cat and mouse play was enriched with mass dialogues, Ajith Kumar had scored well in delivering the mass dialogues which will make us blow the whistle.
Importantly in the screenplay how H. Vinoth connecting the story with the screenplay was interesting. The time taken to establish the story was satisfying, how the crime is getting started and what are all the events connecting to these crimes was written thoughtfully. The characteristic quality especially for all those who performed negative roles was having the right personalities. Also their reason behind why they are into the crimes was cleverly and ideally written in the screenplay without making any confusion. No unwanted characters were brought, everyone was having the right job to do. So the screenplay made a promising start with a solid reason and throughout it was followed by good connecting scenes and ended convincingly.
- PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS:
The film has the casting of Ajith Kumar as the hero and Kartikeya Gummakonda appears as the villain. Huma Qureshi, Bani J, Sumithra, Yogi Babu, Dinesh Prabhakar, Dhruvan, G.M Sundar, Pearle Maaney joins in the casting.
Valimai is all about Ajith Kumar’s electrifying stellar show. The length of 3 hours was not even felt because of his performance. His addictive powerful voice, his energy on the performance, his bravery in performing the stunts, his astonishing bike rides and mass fights scenes is a compelling treat to watch. Here the commitment of Ajith Kumar should be specially mentioned, he had performed various risky stunts and dangerous bike chases and while watching those scenes the dedication he showed was making me wonder which will remind us that age is just a number. We all know that Ajith Kumar is an actor who is fond of Superbikes and his craziness towards the bikes are quite popular and he has proved his bike skills in many movies but in Valimai it is more than the expectation. The mud race bike scenes were shocking, his way of riding and his way of performing the stunts with it was terrific. For the fans of Ajith, Kumar Valimai is a treat and Ajith Kumar has given whatever they want so for them it is a celebration.
Ajith Kumar’s dialogue delivery and the various modulations in delivering the dialogue was accurate, his timing was flawless. Depending on the different situations he delivers the dialogue positively and the power in his voice makes it more appealing. When he bursts out angrily the energy in his voice is beautiful to hear because it creates the correct attitude of a powerful hero and with his furious expression the impact which those scenes create in the theatre is massive. Ajith Kumar had maintained the right personality of a sincere police officer, the attitudes of a police officer have been seen accurately in his performance. His combination scene with Kartikeya was exhilarating with many good thrilling moments and Ajith Kumar had shared great chemistry with him. Also, the emotional scenes were safer in the hands of Ajith Kumar, the mother-son relationship in the movie was sentimental to watch because of his favourable performance.
Karthikeya Gummakonda is the villain of Valimai, he was rocking as the villain and had given some tough fights. His style, his daring attitude and his behaviour on the character was standing out for a full-fledged villain. The performance of Karthikeya was remarkable, the character gave him a lot of chances and he has utilised his skills properly. Karthikeya’s commitment and dedication must be appreciated because he had given his full strength for many dangerous scenes. Many bike jump and bike chase scenes were shot extremely risky but he had shown his courage and all those scenes came out well because of his commitment. He was fluent in delivering the dialogue and nothing felt artificial. Also, his facial expression was catchy and till the end, he maintained a unique attitude. Karthikeya’s combination scene with Ajith Kumar was thrilling and he truly shared great screen space with him. He was a perfect villain for a star like Ajith Kumar, his combo with Ajith Kumar at the climax areas was awesome, also both of them shined dazzlingly on the bike to give some chill.
Huma Qureshi as Sofia, she did the role of Narcotic Officer and she was wonderful, her stunt was amazing, her fight sequences were the most I liked. The way she performed the action sequences were cool and her way of style in fighting was great. She also did a good job as a police officer and throughout she maintained the right mannerism of a sincere police officer. Her combination scene with Ajith Kumar was wonderful and she had done a great job on passing out the dialogues, lip-syncing issues were less.
Raj Ayyappa as the brother was fine with his emotional scenes. He played a very important crucial role and his performance was ok, with Ajith Kumar he had done a great screen sharing. Sumithra as the mother had also delivered a neat performance, her emotional scenes went well, the pain and love of a mother were seen throughout her performance. Dinesh Prabhakar and G.M Sundar do the role of the police officers with a negative touch and both of them had acted nicely. Pearle Maaney and Dhruvan do the supporting roles and both of them did complete justice.
- MUSIC AND BACKGROUND SCORE:
The musical work for the film is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. There are three songs and one theme song in the soundtrack of Valimai. The first song called “Naanga Vera Maari” is one of my favourite songs in recent times and has a spot on my favourite listening list. I love the beats and the song is fantastic to hear. The lyrics by Vignesh Shivan also make the song different, meaningful words and phrases are truly filled and hearing it reminds me of some good advice. While watching the film the visual was perfectly matching for the song and a proper mass introduction was given to Ajith Kumar by the song. His dance moves, his energetic presence and charming looks and smile were all over in the song and the theatre impact was like a festival. The vocals of Yuvan Shankar Raja and Anurag Kulkarni were matching and they nailed it. The second song “Mother Song” was melodious, the love and affection of the mother-son relationship were beautifully given by the song. The lyrics by Vignesh Shivan deserve a big thumbs up, the expressive true words he gave for the song was touching, many beautiful moments with my mother came into my eyes. The vocals of Sid Sriram had also made the song melodious, his various pitches in singing and notes were elegant to hear. The final song called “Enna Kurai” sung by Nandini Srikar and Sriram Parthasarthy was good, the song with it’s beats and instruments maintains a proper flow for hearing. The instrumental whistle theme was impressive, the mannerism of the song was suiting.
The background score was composed by Ghibran and it was a top-class work. This film is composed of many high volt action sequences and bike chases so to carry out these scenes accurately it was demanding an energetic background score and without making any flaws the whole movie was crammed with the accurate syncing background score. The background scores at the fight sequences and also at the bike stunts were exhilarating perfectly which helped to make the right impact. Those scenes will give us a kicking thrill and an edge on the seat feel was properly maintained by the background score. The background scores at hero-villain scenes were also exciting and the background tunes will cherish us to make huge applause. The emotional background score also came out well and had made some sentimental mood on the mother-son relationship scenes.
- TECHNICAL ASPECTS:
Valimai is a film that can be defined as a film of teamwork, the effects and the hard work done by the technical division has made Valimai one of the most spectacular technical films of recent times. The cinematography was classical, the editing was sharp, the action sequences were breathtaking, the locations were precise and sound mixing and visual effects were remarkable, so all together everyone who had worked behind the film had done their job which made Valimai stunningly rich.
The cinematography by Nirav Shah was breathtaking, remarkable shots were seen throughout the film. His camera movement was fascinating, especially in the bike stunt scenes. It was thrilling, the types of shots for the bike chase scene were enchanting for the eyes. The placement of the camera for the bike scenes and also for the action sequences was flawlessly placed. These shots had made me wonder how the cinematographer was getting these ideas, also the frames and their composition was excellently made. Among the different shots, the wide-angle shot was amazing to watch. The bike flew in the air and the bike stunts and jumps were astonishingly composed at wide-angle frames. The sudden camera shift and movement in the fight sequences was also favourable in the thrilling viewing experience.
The editing by Vijay Velukutty was crisp, with no flaws and no errors. The cuts were at the perfect place, mismatches weren’t felt at any point, the transition of the scene to the next scene was also made accurately. The colour-grading was also matching and the tone that the editor gave was awesome, the dark shade and the grading at the indoor and to the fight scene were superb.
The film was mixed in Auro 11.1 sound format, becoming the second Tamil film after Vishwaroopam. As I watched the film on an Auro 11.1 theatre the sound and its experience was fantastic, I enjoyed it more than Dolby Atmos Format. The surrounding speakers had accurately synchronised also the surrounding feel of the sound through the speakers was precise.
The team who had choreographed the action sequences and the bike stunts deserve huge applause, hats off to their extraordinary work. The fights and the bike stunts were like a different experience, many of the stunts will make us wonder. Their braveness should be specially mentioned and also for Ajith Kumar the choreographers had given the right stunts and Ajith completely nailed it. The style of Kartikeya Gummakonda on the action with Ajith Kumar was a treat to watch, should thank the team behind action choreographers. Hats off to the team members who did the bike chases and stunts deserve, their years of hard work and dedication was able to be seen.
The costume department had also done a wonderful job, the costumes of bike stunt fighters looked professional. The costumes of Kartikeya Gummakonda and VJ Bani were looking cool and stylish. The costumes of Ajith Kumar was also impressive, his costume style as a police officer had given the mannerism of a cop and these bike stunt costumes were also terrific.
- CONCLUSION:
So overall to conclude Valimai has given me a gratifying cinematic experience and I will strongly recommend this film. The film is having a top-class making and the performance of Ajith Kumar and Karthikeya Gummakonda is a treat to watch. The intriguing and thrilling bike stunts which the movie provides will inevitably make you wonder. If you love to watch an engaging full-fledged action film then Valimai is a perfect choice. Never miss this film from the big screen, won’t disappoint anyone.
- VERDICT: ENGAGING AND ENTERTAINING
- FINAL RATING: 3.5/5
