Vai Raja Vai - An Interesting Theme Ruined by Incoherent Screenplay

Cast           : Gautham Karthik,Vivek,Daniel Balaji,Priya Anand,Tapsee.
Direction      : Aishwarya R Dhanush
Music          : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography : Velraj.

What happens when a man is targeted by an anti- social betting racket for his extraordinary ability to predict things that are gonna happen ? That's what Vai Raja Vai is all about. Gautham Karthik plays the young man with ESP, and he's caught into the web of the gambling gangster played by Daniel Balaji, due to his closeness with a mysterious Panda Played by Vivek. What happens to Gautham? Does he manage to escape from the evil Daniel
Balaji and unite with the love of his life Priya anand is what is to be seen on screen.


What Fails:

- Casting Gautham karthik as the lead. His deadpan face is a big turn off,and he remains expressionless, be it an intense scene or a romantic scene. Even in the songs, his face is devoid of expressions. Come on, Priya Anand deserved a better on screen pair,who can actually express romance.

-Except the Climax and the pre-interval sequence, none of the scenes stay in your mind, and the screenplay is unimpressive. Poor casting, incoherent screenplay, and the placement of songs is just annoying.

-There are lot of comedians like Manobala, Mayilsamy, Sathish and Swaminathan but Vai raja vai is low on humor, except for few scenes featuring Vivek. The song-dance sequence featuring MS Baskar and Vivek acts as an irritant rather than providing comic relief.


What Works :

- Dhanush's cameo in the climax as Kokki Kumaar is just stunning, and Yuvan's Varriya BGM and the humour laced dialogues just help in elevating the scene.The theater erupts, the moment Dhanush arrives, and there's no other good moment in VRV.
- Yuvan's BGM score is impressive, and among the songs Pachhai Vanna poove passes the muster.
- Daniel Balaji doesn't look menacing, but his mere screen presence just makes the viewer sit through the boring movie.
- The pre-interval India Vs Srilanka match prediction sequence just raises the expectations towards the second half.


With an interesting premise like a hero with ESP,A betting racket,Casinos and gambling, Aishwarya could have gone for a gripping action thriller,but delivers a half baked product, sans quality. Poor casting just adds to the negative effect. At a runtime of just 2 hours, Vai raja Vai actually is decent on the outset, but the content isn't gripping, and that ultimately kills the movie. Aishwarya makes us consider Moonu is a classic !! (Moonu had atleast a superior performance by Dhanush and an awesome score by Anirudh)


VERDICT: Wait for the DVD, to watch the climax featuring Kokki Kumaaru.

5/10