Two years after the lacklustre ‘Thunivu,’ Ajith Kumar returns to the big screen with ‘Vidaamuyarchi,’ joining hands with director Magizh Thirumeni. In an instance of irony, the film has faced multiple hurdles causing for a delay in its release. Thirumeni has seen success with his cult hit crime thrillers for over a decade, with films such as 2012’s ‘Thadaiyara Thaakka,’ 2013’s ‘Meaghamann’ and 2019’s ‘Thadam’ making their mark with audiences. With his latest feature, Thirumeni presents a more stripped down and lean film for Ajith Kumar, going against the ‘hero worship’ seen from the star's recent films.
The plot follows Arjun (Ajith Kumar) and Kayal (Trisha), a married couple living in Azerbaijan who embark on a nine hour road trip to her parents’ house. Along the way, they encounter unsavoury characters who turn their lives upside down. The film is a remake of the Hollywood film ‘Breakdown’ and many aspects of both the plot and craft reflect this. For the most part, the story is focussed and straightforward, and is mostly successful in building tension throughout.
The issues begin with the performances. The lead pair are underwhelming. Ajith Kumar often overplays his subtle character. The chemistry between the lead pair is not felt throughout either, which is mostly due to the film's dialogue. In contrast, Regina Cassandra and Arjun’s characters are much better acted and bring some life into the film, the former being the standout role.
The film’s strongest aspects lie in its craft. The cinematography by Om Prakash is fantastic, imbuing the film with style and the personality lacking from its lead roles. The action blocks are mostly impressive, especially one shot in a vehicle which borrows from the 2010 Korean film ‘I Saw the Devil.’ Once again, it should be noted that the film is heavily let down by its script. There is a wholly unnecessary villain flashback which both hampers the film’s pace and removes mystery from both the plot and character motivations. There are many moments where the film forgets its own tone, notedly a scene at the start of the third act featuring an old lady and a shotgun that horribly misses its comedic mark.
The soundtrack and score by Anirudh Ravichander vary in quality. The first track and single of the film ‘Sawadeeka’ felt completely out of place with the rest of the film, inserting a peppy number for no reason other than to have a hit song. The score is the usual Anirudh fare, forgoing nuance and instead attempting to create hype.
Overall, ‘Vidaamuyarchi’ is often an engaging watch, but is tripped up by too many creative decisions that work against it. A few more revisions of the script would have created a tighter and better project. The film should be appreciated for its attempt at breaking out of the mould for ‘star’ vehicles. I recommend watching Thirumeni’s 2019 film ‘Thadam’ if you enjoyed this film.
Krishna's rating: 2.5 stars
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Official trailer for film below.