Abandoned in a garbage bin as a baby, it’s about a mercenary’s search for his real identity. Pawan had essayed supporting roles in various films. He now gets the solo lead with enough scope to display not just his stunt and fight skills, but also explore his acting range. His character Siva aka Seesa goes through various emotional upheavals. And Pawan essays the various nuances of the character with understanding and efficiency.
The earlier part of Vilaasam depicts the life of Seesa as a mercenary, his rivalry with friend-turned-foe Bawa (Aruldass), his changing relationship with Pandyan (Naren) the new cop on the block and the girl in his life Abhi (Sanam). She is adequate in her role playing a strong supportive factor. There is some comic relief that comes in the form of amusing encounters between a small-time crook (Rajendran), his dim-witted cronies and Pandyan the cop. The first half is a routine one, as the events are a reflection of what we have seen in earlier films. While we begin to give up on the film, the director surprises you with a total turnabout in the second half, which compensates for the inadequacies of the earlier part. The narration picks up pace and is interesting. The callousness of human nature and the reluctance of humans to take responsibility for their mistakes, are all brought out with realism and sensitivity. It’s a finely-crafted moment handled with maturity, when Seesa comes face to face with the bitter truth of his parentage. The dialogue is thought-provoking and meaningful here. We wonder if it’s the same director, who in an earlier scene had penned a line with a lopsided logic like, ‘if 20 families adopt an orphan, there won’t be any orphans in the country...similarly if each woman adopts a rowdy, the country would be free of rowdism.’ The final face-off between Seesa and Bawa is a well choreographed one. Vilaasam is an appreciable effort by a debutant maker.