Balaji Sakthivel who has directed sensitive romances like ‘Kadhal’, returns with yet another engaging off-beat experience in Vazhakku Enn..... The screenplay is sensitively crafted and characters well fleshed out. It has an ensemble cast of debutantes, unpolished unfamiliar faces, who lent a natural take to their characters. The director has got adequate support from his technical crew. The film’s viewing time is roughly about two hours.
An accidental victim, a teen accused of a heinous crime on circumstantial evidence, and the attempt by powers at a cover up, form the crux of the plot. The director uses a non linear narrative style as he touches on the happenings in the life of two teen couples, each from a different economic and social strata. The two stories running parallel, converge at a point. The film opens with an untoward happening in an apartment building, an ambulance and the police getting into the act. Velu working at a roadside eatery is hauled up as the primary suspect and questioned by the cops. The narration moves back and forth in time as the scared timid Velu narrates his side of the story. His traumatic childhood is narrated extremely well.
It is a detailed sketch of the ambience around the roadside eatery, Vijay Milton’s camera capturing it well. Velu’s vulnerability and innocence is contrasted with that of the street smart Chinnasamy (a livewire performance by Chinnasamy) who gives a few tips on life to Velu. Velu’s interaction with Rosy, a street hooker, is one of the positive elements in the film. The narration in the earlier part though a tad slow, picks up momentum as it progressed. Scenes of Velu’s attraction for Jyoti a domestic help at a nearby apartment, and his bumbling actions misconstrued by her mother, are realistically etched. Sri and Urmila essay their roles with perfect understanding.
There is another couple in the story, Arthi and Dinesh, both grade 12 students. Mithun and Manisha are apt for the role, and their interaction had a natural flow. It’s Arthi’s revelation to the cop that lends a different perspective to the crime committed. Dinesh’s intention in striking a friendship with Arthi, both from affluent families, reveals the ugly side of urban life -- where certain wealthy kids misuse the freedom, the money and the gadgets given to them. Without being preachy, it makes a statement on the negligence of children by working parents, and the lack of proper care and guidance. Protectors of law shifting stances for personal gains, is brought out well through the character of the investigating cop Kumaravel, essayed with great efficiency by Muthuraman. The finale will have the audience rooting for Jyoti’s gutsy act. The director has managed to sustain an element of surprise throughout. Certain situations and characters that seemed random and incidental in the earlier part, acquire a whole new meaning and perspective when revisited at a later stage. ‘Vazhakku Enn....’ with its different take is one of those rare experiences which entertains even as it makes you think.