This film was shot simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu with the latter titled “Sir“.
Vaathi appears to be a cross between the 2021 Tamil film “Master” and the 2019 Hindi film “Super 30“, at least that’s how I felt after watching it. The concept of a regular guy rising to become a saviour for society is nothing new, but it’s a powerful formula for hooking the audience if the execution is effective.
WHAT I LIKE
Dhanush is fantastic as Bala Gangadhar Thilak (Telugu) / Balamurugan (Tamil) in the flick. It’s incredibly entertaining to witness Dhanush perform so brilliantly that it feels real from scene one. The action sequences and his strategies for educating his pupils are both entertaining and insightful.
The dialogues are both engaging and unforgettable. Some of the social equality deliberations are not only powerful but also incredibly effective.
Samyuktha Menon, who plays Meenakshi, performs an excellent job as Dhanush’s love interest and biology teacher. She has terrific chemistry with Dhanush and lends Dhanush’s character much-needed support when he needs it the most. It’s great to see Samyuktha Menon and Dhanush in the film together, and the romance that’s woven into the core narrative about a serious issue flows smoothly.
I was ecstatic when I saw Bharathiraja’s cameo as a Villager and felt that he was a great addition to the film.
I enjoyed the film’s action sequences and music. The song “Vaa Vaathi” is especially powerful. The background score is quite effective in evoking emotional responses. G. V. Prakash Kumar’s music adds value to the film.
Samuthirakani’s portrayal as Tripathi (Telugu) / Thirupathi (Tamil) was great, and it was fun to see him go up against Dhanush. I would have wanted to see more variety in his schemes and for him to be in more scenes, but he was good in the parts he was in and is a very convincing villain.
WHAT I DISLIKE
My main complaint with the film is the first-half comedic portions and the inclusion of a few unneeded characters. Several scenes in the first half could have been trimmed, and most of the comedy fell short.
Hyper Aadi as Karthik and Sha Ra as Prakash Reddy does a pretty good job with what they’re given, but they’re not needed in the plot. Every scene that included them was a filler since they added nothing to the main narrative. They have little or no impact and appear to have been introduced just to lengthen the runtime.
CONCLUSION
I had a fantastic time watching Vaathi and thought it did an excellent job of portraying a serious story in an amusing way. It has several nice setups and payoffs and is a highly inspirational narrative.
While not a great film, it is entertaining enough and a Dhanush film that I wouldn’t mind seeing again in the near future. If you haven’t seen this film yet, I strongly advise you to do so since it needs a lot more attention.
