Villu-My Review(1.5\5)

Starring: Vijay, Nayanthara, Vadivelu.

Direction: Prabhu Deva

Music: Devi Sri Prasad

Production: Ayngaran International

Got an evening show ticket to watch this Movie. Let’s first get things straight: Villu is Prabhu Deva’s version of the Hindi box office hit Soldier. It dawns on you as the movie progresses and sadly when your next seat neighbor is an over-enthusiastic bloke who can’t help but revealing the incidents of Soldier in correlation with Villu, you have no choice other than to blame your stars (as in, astrological ones). Having said that, we do not mean Prabhu Deva made a good adaptation of Soldier – not that if he attempted it, things would’ve been any better. With tacky production values, shabby cinematography and amateurish direction Villu comes across as a more than two-hour long torment that only less people deserve – those who have committed some unpardonable crime, perhaps.

Prabhu Deva cannot be excused in a lifetime for conceiving Vijay’s scarecrow entry – it happens in a laundry place and Vijay flies across and lands gathering all the lengthy and colorful garments entwined on his body making him look no less than a scarecrow. Thankfully enough, Vijay does not have too many punch dialogues though – this time around he attempts to impress his fans using his antics in fights and gathering sentiments. That’s not to mention that his dialogues double up to serve the purpose of punch one liners. And there are these amateur stunt scenes – Vijay emerges unscathed invariably in all of them. In land, water and on air, that is. He also plays a double role of that of a father and a son. And with that Prabhu Deva has successfully made the army operations appear as if it were a one-man-attempt. And the atrocious dialogue – that the only benefit of being in the army is the subsidized liquor – is inexcusable.

Villu’s story is reminiscent of the prehistoric Tamil cinema formulas – son taking revenge over his father’s killers to satiate his mother’s wishes. And of course, there is time for love, double crossing, comedy and some sentiments in the midst.

Nayan’s presence serves the purpose of eye candy – she wears micro minis (she even asks you so in one of the songs), bras disguised as tops, dangerously low skirts and spaghetti tops. Whatever happened to that naïve and talented girl of Ayya and Manasinakkara? Although Vadivelu’s unimaginative comedy track (yes, the track has absolutely no connection whatsoever with the movie’s main plot) is boisterous and loud, it serves as a saving grace for the movie in many instances.

Prakash Raj, Anandraj, Manoj K Jeyan, Geetha, Ranjitha and Pandu’s roles are shoddily developed. The atrociously plump Kushboo ends up performing the title item number, partly voiced by Kovai Sarala. Now that reminds us of the forgettable music – except for a couple of songs that could be favored by the front benchers, the music and rerecording are largely intolerable.

A separate review could be written about Ravi Varman’s cinematography. The frames appear hazed

even in the foreign locales. In many scenes where a chase sequence is in progress, the images become pixilated, making one wonder about the poor production values. For all these reasons Villu, in all probability, could even tire out the loyal fans. Verdict – Not worth risking your patience!