Banner: AP Film Garden
Cast: Arjun, Mallika Kapoor
Direction: A. Venkatesh
Production: Anadhan, Pazhanivel
Music: D. Immam
Vathiyar is a typical Arjun movie – with good doses of action, romance and comedy, this makes for a Tamil “masala” entertainer.
He looks at his best in dance and stunt sequence yet he is in 40s. Arjun knows what he is capable of and what his fans expectations are. He has tried to fulfill his fans expectations.
Another good-over-evil, hero-beats-up-bad-guys film, Vathiyar shows Durai (Arjun) as the man taking revenge against a group of gangsters, who were responsible for an incident in which the lives of many school children were lost.
Though this movie looks like his old movie Saathu, Vathiyar keeps up a decent momentum.
The movie begins with Durai beating up some bad guys. Next, he is also portrayed as a good Samaritan for the needy and the poor when he’s shown running an orphanage with the help of his friends (Manivannan and Vadivelu). He has no tolerance for evil and people who commit atrocities and ACP Easwara Pandian (Prakash Raj), a villain, is waiting for an opportunity to catch him and throw him behind bars.
Meanwhile, Anjali (Mallika Kapoor), a TV journalist, is attracted towards Durai’s courage and kind heart. This rude-yet-good man has a calm and caring past too.
It’s time for the flash-back,
Durai is a school teacher. Suddenly, one day, some gangsters set the school on fire, killing many, many children. Vowing that he would take revenge, he plots and plans to catch the villains – this is what makes up for the rest of the film, with the climax worth watching in theatres.
Definitely a film for Arjun fans who love their star to dance with energy, fight with enthusiasm and love with mischief, Vathiyar is an action-entertainer. Punch line dialogues, songs glorifying the hero find their place through the movie.
Mallika Kapoor plays a typical Tamil heroine appearing only for duet songs and a few scenes here and there. The versatile Prakashraj makes a good villain, as usual and Manivannan and Vadivelu provide good comic relief. Music by D. Iman is for the front-benchers. The highlight of this movie? The fast-paced stunts.
Vathiyar makes for an entertaining few hours while teaching a breezy lesson.