'Vandhaan Vendraan' (Tamil)
Director: R Kannan
Cast: Jiiva, Nandaa, Taapsee, Santhanam, Rahman
In ‘Vandhaan Vendraan’, director Kannan ventures into a plot centered on sibling rivalry, blending it with a love- story and a gangster saga. The ambience shifts from a small town in Tamil Nadu to Mumbai, where most of the action takes place with a midway detour to the lush Kurnool for a romantic interlude.
But the director seems to be clearly not in his elements here, particularly in replicating the underworld- ambience, which forms the major chunk of the plot. The director brings a twist at the end. But this only adds to the disbelief of the audience, and doesn’t help compensate the lack of coherence in the rest of the script.
The film has a promising opening, as it traverses through the childhood of two half-brothers who are on a warring path. The older one, jealous of the younger’s proximity to their father, torments him. The younger one, more of the ideal son, helplessly bears it all. Till one day, an opportunity arises and he strikes back, leading to disastrous consequences.
These scenes have a realistic feel, and are probably the best parts of the film.
The story shifts to Mumbai a decade-and-a-half later, where Arjun (Jiiva) encounters Ramana (Nandaa), the underworld kingpin. It’s from here that the script takes a downslide, never to recover again.
Ramana is a dreaded gangster, with a hand in every illegal business running in the city. He was always in the line of fire, either from the police or rival gangsters. But the whole ambience here lacks authenticity and realism. A dapper, Nandaa plays Ramana with quiet efficiency, infusing the character with a lot of style and attitude, the inadequacy in the structuring of his scenes not marring his performance.
Jiiva and Taapsee share pleasant onscreen chemistry. One can’t fault Jiiva’s performance, but it’s in no way challenging to the actor. A couple of songs are aesthetically picturised. Rahman, as the cop, comes towards the tail end in a role, wasted and irrelevant. Santhanam manages to provide comic relief at times.
‘Vandhaan Vendraan’ is a cocktail gone awry!