Film: Vaanavil Vaazhkai
Director: James Vasanthan
Cast: Jithin, Jose Selvaraj, Jonathan, Sai Shankar, Janani Rajan
For his directorial debut, music composer James Vasanthan has chosen a genre that falls in his comfort zone — a musical entertainer. With an ensemble cast of fresh young actors, the director, who apart from composing the music has penned the script and lyrics too, sets his plot against a college campus backdrop. The treatment is breezy and light hearted, with friendship, romance and campus rivalry weaved in. The flow of songs — about 17 of them — throughout the film, is striking. Peppy and youthful, they are smoothly integrated in the narration, without striking a discordant note.
Debutant young actors, all real life musicians, have sung their own songs and played the musical instruments in the film. They lend freshness to the characters.
Jithin as Jack, is the lead singer of the group. He plays his role with easy assurance. The first half moves at a steady pace. The scenes on the campus and the entire ambience is colourful and youthful. Prathap’s camera captures the feel and mood effectively. Some of the later moments, however, seem contrived — like, when the gang of friends makes a trip to a friend’s home in a village to savour the rural ambience.
Also, we get to hear a lot of dog-talk, one of the leads Preethi (Janani) being a dog lover.
In the second half, the director seems to lose his focus and grip on the narration, and the momentum slackens in the part where the college team participates in the National Youth Fest competition. Here, it becomes more like watching a docu-drama on Indian folk dances.
Vaanavil Vaazhkai is at the most a promising work from a debutant maker.
