Velayudham - Movie Review

Action movies have worked wonders for Vijay in the past. Be it Gilli or Pokkiri, his fans always welcomed his do gooder avatar. Now, for the first time in his career, the actor has donned the superhero character in Velayudham. The movie, which is said to be the biggest-ever budget of his career, not only has an action-packed storyline but has siblings story attached to it. Read on for Velayudham review.

The story is as old as the hills but the interesting part of it is that the way Jayam Raja tells the story in a rich manner. The film begins on a note that all is not well in the system and there is an atmosphere, where a law breaker is required to clean up the mess done by the politicians. Journalist Bharati (Genelia D'Souza) is up against the politicians, who are behind the deaths of her two friends.

She is in search of a hero, who has the ability to expose the nexus between politicians and terrorists. She finds that hero in a milkman named Velayudham (Vijay) who was living happily with his sister Kaveri (Saranya Mohan) and their cousin Vaidehi (Hansika Motwani). His sister's marriage makes him to come to Chennai to withdraw money from a chit fund. The real story begins from now, as he is been dragged into a terrorist plot. Soon, situation brings Bharati and Velayudham together and she finds her fictional hero in him. The rest of the story is about how Vijay turns vigilante and how they uproots the corruption.

Vijay rocks in his Assassin's Creed avatar. He shines both in comedies as well as action parts. After a long time, his fans are able to see the other side of him with his comic acts. Genelia, in her usual best, has performed her character with ease. But Hansika Motwani disappoints the audience. In fact, it looks like the makers of the film have roped in her to fill only the glam quotient and nothing more than that. However, Saranya Mohan is apt in her sister's role and Santhanam is good with his funny acts. Rest other actors are okay.

As Jayam Raja said before, Velayudham is inspired by Telugu movie Azad but the filmmaker has added some new flavours to the story, which makes the film an interesting affair. The director should be praised for making it in a colourful way and rich. He also gets pat on his back for showing Vijay in a stylised manner. He is well-supported by his technical crew – music by Vijay Anthony, Priyan's cinematography, Tom Delmar's stunts, etc. However, had VT Vijayan would have been merciless in his editing, the movie would have been more interesting, as it is too lengthy.

Velayudham is a complete masala entertainer and Vijay's treat for his fans. Highlights of the movie are good story and amazing action-sequences.

Cast: Vijay, Genelia, Hansika Motwani, Saranya Mohan and others.
Director: Jayam Raja
Music: Vijay Antony
Cinematography: Priyan
Editing: VT Vijayan
Producer: Venu Ravichandran