Not Quite Worth a Watch, Even for a Vethu Vaettu

Set in a rural milieu, it’s about Machai, a youngster who boasts about his fictional ‘conquests’ and at one point finds his callous comments on women backfiring on him. The early scenes depict Machai’s thoughtless ways and acts. Smitten by college girl Maha, the youngster brags to his friends that she was in love with him and was willing to go the whole way. These early scenes are flippant and uninteresting. There is an element of suspense when a pregnant Maha, hauled before the panchayat, declares Machai as the father of her unborn baby, to Machai’s consternation. Since a couple of scenes earlier we had been witness to an unfortunate incident, it’s not difficult to guess Maha’s motive for her act. Instead of the usual hue and cry by the respective families, the latter seem to be quite glad, and get the duo married. The narrative is slow paced and lagging.

And then comes the interval caption, which says ‘Iny Athir Vaettu’. It suggests that the protagonist will take a strong stand and the narration would take a bounce and a leap to a faster pace. But the story moves at a snail’s pace here too, with nothing much happening for a long time. Machai sulks around, not very serious to find out or ask Maha the reason for her act. And it’s much later that she reveals in a very long flashback her back story. But the crucial part where she explains her pregnancy lacks conviction. In such a scenario the actors can hardly make an impact. A listless screenplay and insipid narrative ensures that we neither connect to the events nor to the characters.

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