JESSY
The topic of love has been captured, dissected and beaten to death in Tamil Cinema. We have seen varied types of love – love without hassles, love where parents play spoilsport, triangular love , inter caste/ inter religion love, forced love, love for reforming a person, Age disparity love, relationship disparity (Aboorva Raagangal) love, love among persons of different nationalities and what not. Even movies that deal with another theme would more often than not have a love story as part of the script. So, when I heard the story of “Vinnai Thaandi Varuvayaa” and saw the trailer, I got the feeling that this story has been told so many times – the case of a Hindu guy and a Christian girl facing opposition from parents for their marriage has been in existence for many decades. In fact, I have not seen much of the Hindu girl and Christian guy combination. Having admired the earlier works of Goutham Vasudev Menon, I was more intent in seeing how the talented director executes the trite script. The presentation of the movie has to be different and spot on in order to leave an impact. And yes, “Impactful” is the word which captures in essence my feelings on watching the movie. VTV is not a special movie – it does not have a different theme, any mind blowing special effects nor any star cast whom audience would throng to watch nor even very special scenes. It is a simple movie which has been presented very well and has stuck religiously to what it has tried to attempt.
The man who thoroughly deserves the first honors is none other than Goutham Menon. The presentation is indeed fresh. Executing a very familiar story and having a screenplay where the lead characters (Simbu and Trisha) appear in almost all the reels but still making it an interesting watch is indeed remarkable. There is no scope for characters that do not fit with the storyline. Even the other characters (for instance the parents of the hero and heroine) appear in only very limited frames. Such care has been taken by the director to ensure that the essence of the movie is not diluted.
By this time, most readers would be conversant with the Goutham Menon style of film making – a simple story with powerful characterization and dialogues (Who can forget the characters Anbu Chelvan, Raghavan, Maya, Aradhana, Surya). VTV continues the trend and here the characterization of Karthik and Jessy is indeed the highlight of the film.
Jessy – the wanting to be modern girl coming from a conservative family, shown as realistic and practical, tempted to deviate from her thoughts on personal life, breaking her conservative barrier when it matters, experiencing severe tribulations in mind due to her constrained family environment, stuck in a predicament, taking impulsive decisions and regretting them later on and living the life she opted for rather than the life she desired – Have we not seen many Jessy’s in real world?
Karthik – Another beautiful characterization, the young brash guy who wants to do something different, not afraid to speak his mind whenever it matters, one who takes many impulsive decisions without much thought on the outcome, the desperate lover not wanting to lose his first love, stuck in a quandrum between professional and personal life, aiming desperately to restore the love after he has lost it, taking it all in his stride and achieving success in life – Again, we might have seen many real world examples.
Ganesh – A friend who is many years older, even a generation older, but he is there to assist Karthik when it matters.
The best part of the movie is that Goutham has not created characters who are imaginary and far from the real world. All these characters have their flaws and even they recognize them. The director reveals the age of the lead pair to also let us know that at their age, all the decisions they take might not be mature and logical.
Seeing the variety of themes that Goutham is pulling off with finesse, one cannot wonder the thought if he could be the next Mani Ratnam. He is developing a niche audience segment and is also ensuring box office success of all his films. That is an unbelievable attribute to have.
The other brilliant aspect of the movie is the climax. This guy has real brains! When I heard from news snippets about the movie having two different climax sequences , I could not understand the need. But seeing the movie, you are left admiring his shrewdness. Goutham knows the pulse of the audience and has acted on it by having a tragic ending for the Tamil version and a happy ending for the Telugu version. Besides that, he provided the audience a glimpse of both the endings in both the versions. Thoughtful indeed!
We all know how Goutham has this uncanny knack of presenting the songs aesthetically. The songs in VTV are an absolute treat to watch on the screen though there might be one song too many towards the end. Kudos to the Oscar winner Rahman. BGM is good but not the best we have seen from Rahman.
Coming to the performances, Trisha as Jessy is the soul of the movie. Seeing this performance, we are left wondering where this talented actress was hiding all these years. She steals the show with her subtle changes in emotion (I liked the scene where she tries to keep a serene face but still finds it tough to conceal the little smile on her face). Trisha has indeed been made more gorgeous by Nalini Sriram’s costumes. The saree has indeed been a neglected attire especially while depicting present day characters. Here, Trisha is seen sporting it most times (How many Polaris female associates wear saree on a daily basis is another thought better left aside for now, same goes with BSC maths students being sharper or more interested than engineers in Maths).
Silambarasan has got a very meaty role that gives him immense scope to perform. He has done his best but somehow on occasions, we could not help wondering why he isn’t expressing varied emotions. His voice modulation is definitely an area that he could improve significantly as currently it looks stern all the time. His performance in the climax scenes is very good. This could be a significant career milestone for him.
The chemistry between the lead pair is indeed good and the daring romantic scenes have been shot with the minimum fuzz. They seem so realistic sans any vulgarity.
VTV has its own share of flaws. The pace of the movie might not please audience who love a racy screenplay. The stereotypic brother (tough to believe him behaving like a thug in a highly literate family), the typical fight at an isolated place, Simbu managing to meet Trisha whenever he desires despite everyone in close proximity, Trisha’s reasoning with her father not given any space at all in the movie are some of the dampeners. Trisha’s father showing the marriage album to Simbu’s sister gives away the ending. This dialogue could have been avoided. But, I should admit that we forget this dialogue after some time. Same goes with Trisha’s dialogue to Simbu that this might be their last time together.
On analyzing all these aspects, it can be safely concluded that Goutham Menon has again done Tamil cinema proud and raised the yardstick for future romantic movies.
Machan, Superub analysis of VTV movie in depth. Since your name also coincides with hero name of VTV movie, I hope to see you as film director soon:-)
Karthik, really a well written review! However…. My question is
Is VTV really worth for a review..? My answer is a big and immediate NO… because I am unable to accept this as a complete movie.
Further, Sorry I cant agree with
“On analyzing all these aspects, it can be safely concluded that Goutham Menon has again done Tamil cinema proud and raised the yardstick for future romantic movies.”
My conclusion would be….Gautham is too much conceited about his film making abilities and failed to concentrate on direction. He seems to be too complacent in handling VTV which clearly resulted in a wreck.
Consoling aspects : ARR and Trisha.
@Prasanna, A review is not equal to “appreciation”, so even for a movie like Vettaikaaran, we could write a review. Infact, for the last one year, I have written a film related review only once. There was something special in VTV that I wanted to pen this.
Pls give VTV theme to any director in India and ask him to make a movie sans artificial elements and characters and we could verify if the product is better. We could maybe say Goutham could have taken a different theme altogether. But once within the theme, the only way we could analyze is the way he has handled it. In fact not many like Vaaranam Aayiram, which was again a movie true to its theme.
I respect ur views but just that i have a different take on them!
i get mixed responses as of now…..
@Karthik, After seeing VTV, you can guarantee that it would get mixed reviews. It would not be a movie that would appeal to all, in fact some of them would think “what’s new in this?”, “Movie doesn’t have any special scenes” , “Movie does not have enough characters who have been given screen space” etc.
Again, this review is not for making people watch VTV. It is just my thoughts on the movie. I felt that here was a movie that was made with the right intention.
good analysis of the movie. I am glad to see more people who could understand and love the essence of the movie!
Thanks Divya, In fact being a Kamal Haasan fan would always help me to differentiate substance from gimmicks. GM is one of the modern day directors who does it on a regular basis. Good to see a lot of new promising directors, Not sure if u saw Renigunda, a nice attempt!
VTV is a brilliant movie, no doubt… but certain disagreements on ur review:
- I admired Simbu’s performance more than Trisha’s, but gotta agree that this is their best ever performance
- Trisha’s father showing the marriage photo is completely fine… the climax was still a suspense after that imaginary sequence…
- BTW, BSc maths students are indeed sharper than engineers in maths
, they’re supposed to specialize in maths aren’t they? 
Thanks Sudhan for ur comments
For careful movie watchers, Trisha’s father showing marriage photo is a clear give away of the ending.
Let us take the realistic case for the third point, BSC maths guys r mostly people who do not get into Engg, that was my intent in expressing that point.
Hi Jo!… u almost said wat I felt….
this is wat I felt abt the movie and ur review….
1. You are lil harsh on Simbu. He has done a very decent job… I felt he has done brilliantly infact…
2. The cameraman’s who accompanies Simbu has done a gr8 job to add humor to the script… his dialogue delivery was something I admired.
3. I dint like people overly appreciating the movie “jessie” within vtv… people saying its super hit… trisha saying the dialogues are like they are sculpted…. is like GVM boasting… could have underplayed a bit there….:)
4. I liked it when he(GVM) ridiculed himself in the 1st half… about the fact that GVM taking a film for two years!
5. I also liked when Simbu said “Avan avan kaadhalukkaga America-veh poraan! Allepey poga mudiyatha?”
I guess one of the asst. directors wud have asked GVM “Enna sir? Minnale-la irunthu unga heroes ellarum heroine thedi oor oora sutharathayeh kaatreenga?” Gautam was clever there!
Keep writing….
Thanks Bala, In fact feels happy that Blogging is a way to revive some old friendships!
I think u have captured well some of the aspects I missed out. I liked the way Goutham Menon has thought as a viewer- by asking counter questions and having it answered – Examples: Trisha asking how u got my number, Simbu replying I wud tell in next movie (was the best way to evade a long discussion and needless flashback); Ganesh questioning Simbu on occasions too made me feel that GVM has thought as how a typical viewer would think
Yes, even I liked him criticizing himself – Antha English padam muzhakka pesi 2 varusham edukara director aa and the America dialogue u mentioned
I believe u would have known that the cameraman Ganesh is one of the producers of the movie, he has done a gr8 job.
Trisha as Jessy has indeed done a gr8 job, seeing the shoddy acting by most heroines and infact Trisha herself (even in Abiyum Naanum), I felt it was a job well done.
Simbu loses out partly due to his dialogue delivery and keeping a stone face on occasions where he could have emoted better (especially first half). I felt in second half, he did very well especially the climax scenes.
Keep commenting, thanks again
Thanks Vineeth for the comments
As said to one of my friends, any movie is worth writing a review as a review is not an appreciation, it has to bring out all aspects of the movie.
I agree with some of ur comments like a gud first half, Trisha’s presentation, Simbu’s voice modulation, Ganesh’s brilliant acting, Manoj paramahamsa, ARR.
“Most of the theatres where vacant mid into second half” – so do u visit all theatres in TN and watch the movie so many times as it is shown in the movie? VTV is a movie that would not work with all – I had predicted it after watching it on the third day. So no surprise in seeing ur theatre going vacant
Kissing and Hugging aspect – Man, have u not seen tamil movies before? They show sleaze in the name of songs, to satiate front benchers, the hugging and kissing shown in VTV were very vital to the script, hes going on a 45 day trip, they have some emotional moments, even these scenes are nicely captured without any vulgarity. I do not remember them doing those repeatedly (only during train and next in Ganesh house before the Goa trip).
VTV is a very tough movie to make, it looks simple from the outset, but showing a familiar story in a different light is tough and thats where I have credited Goutham!
Keep commenting, thanks