Movie Name: Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya
Directed by: Gautham Menon
Produced by: Madan, Ganesh, Elred, Jayaraman
Written by: Gautham Menon
Starring: Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Uma padmanaban
Music by: A. R. Rahman

Review # 1:

Three cheers to Gautham Vasudev Menon, the big daddy of romance is back with a bang! His Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (VTV) is pure magic. This one works and grabs us where it matters; VTV is straight from the heart.

10 years after his candy floss Minnale, Menon’s VTV is a far more mature Valentine. The film is backed by awe inspiring performance and precisely one thing going for it and that’s the chemistry between its lead actors Silambarasan and Trisha, Manoj Paramahamsa’s eye-catching frames, great screenplay and a stunning climax that is riveting.

It is return of romance and will strike a chord with anyone who’s loved and felt the unbearable anguish of loss, and knows the feeling that binds people in love together. Menon’s creativity is completely home grown though it looks autobiographical.

Karthik (Simbu) a mechanical engineer dreams of becoming a film director meets Jessy (Trisha) a Malayalee Christian girl, an IT professional and it is love at first sight. She lives on the top floor with her strict father (Babu Antony), mother and an aggressive brother while Karthik and his family have rented out the lower portion of the house.

The first half is all about how he passionately woo her, follows her to Kerala, with his good friend Ganesh (Ganesh) a cameraman and his mentor who was instrumental in him becoming director KS Ravikumar’s AD. Karthik’s passionate wooing melts Jessy who finally succumbs to his ardent love. But her family and religion stands in the way of true love.

The romantic track is engaging because it's innocent, simple and the director nails it right. Silence convey so much more than irreverent banter, and nowhere is this more evident than in the interactions between Karthik and Jessy, whose romance is conveyed through their conversations, eyes and longing expressions. The credit goes to its lead pair who invests sincerity and genuine enthusiasm while attacking their roles.

However, VTV is not devoid of minor flaws. It has too many songs which are experimental and are non-structured that act as speed breaker. The pre climax song is unwanted, still “Hosanna..” and “Aaromale…” are the pick of the lot. The film at 2 hours and 35 minutes can be trimmed by at least 10 minutes in the second half to make it as racy and interesting as the first half.
Count among its major plus points- the technical wizardry of the film. Manoj Paramahamsa’s camera and his colour combination especially the night silhouette shots in the backwaters have a touch of class. Art director’s Rajeevan’s choice of interiors and mixing it with the exteriors are brilliant. Antony’s editing without using any gimmicks makes the narration silken smooth.

The film belongs to its lead actors. For sure, Simbu has come a long way from his finger wagging punch line spewing days. It's a joy to watch him in the climax scene when he speaks about his love by taking ordinary lines and delivering them so convincingly, and never miss a beat. His sheer agility in the romantic interludes, his composure, his dead pan humour and his tears in the climax are tangible and real, giving it a heart warming immediacy.

As a woman torn by the dualities of her existence, Trisha looks good and delivers her career best performance in a knock-out role. Her costumes, body language and gait changes as the story shifts from Chennai to New York via the backwaters of Kerala. There is a super cameo by Ganesh (one of the producers of VTV), which is earthy and outrageous as the cameraman friend of the hero and raises huge chuckles and the bar of the film.

The film is a must watch for those who cares for cinema of sense and substance. It stresses the fact that Tamil cinema has to break the mould if it aims to grab eyeballs. Gautham Menon has crafted a movie that will stay in our hearts for a long, long time.

Verdict- Very Good

Review #2 :

It is impossible to write a run-of-the-mill review for a Gautham Menon film follows the format of introduction, synopsis, a short critical perspective and finally, a verdict. Usually, the story itself can be said in a few lines. but even an A3 sheet may be insufficient to describe the experience of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (VTV).

So, you'll thank me for this review which is a little shorter than the ones I tend to write and here, I have but a few brief words for the storyline itself, followed by a masterful effort to NOT gush over some of the stupendous work in the movie and a speedy roundup and verdict - but this is only because I neither have the space nor the vocabulary to do justice to the experience of watching this movie.

The Story

Karthik is our young hero. A 22-year-old man who has just finished his engineering degree and has cinema on his brain - he wants to become a film-maker one day. He is no shirker in his efforts; his days are spent knocking down doors of film directors' offices and studio hangars, hoping for a chance at assisting an established film-maker. And then one day, Jessie breezes into his life. Do you remember the 'Thunderbolt Effect' in The Godfather series when Michael Corleone first meets Appolonia? That is what Karthik feels when he sees Jessie from afar. She lives upstairs on their two-level independent home and barely notices him for the first few weeks. Then the contrived "chance" encounter by Karthik on their rooftop, the fervently planned meeting at a KFC joint where Jessie works, the way he blurts his love to her, his impulsive trip all the way to her native Alapuzha to apologize to her for that, their discovery of their love and - the strongest element in their love story - whether they are fated to be together or part ways, given their tumultuous environment.

Jessie looks barely out of her teens, so fresh and doe-eyed is her appearance. Yet, she is not only an intelligent and well-grounded young woman, she is an year older than Karthik! And she is the yang to his yin. Where Karthik is full of, "Let's do it! Let's face the world, even our families and let's be together! Let's fearlessly shout our love from the rooftops!", Jessie is full of, "This is the worst-ever life plan. It would never work between us, thanks to my family and our religions. This would never work because I am so indecisive about making such emotional decisions!"

Jessie is torn between her love for Karthik and loyalty to her family.

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa - will you cross the skies for me? This is the premise of the entire Karthik-Jessie love story. Will he wait forever for her? Will she cross her own hurdles to come to him? Will they run away from the world and be together? Will they fall prey to each other's diametrically opposite perspectives and lose out on love?

The Performances: On- and Off-screen

Simbu and more Simbu all the way. What a fantastic, underplayed and completely heart-melting performance. You have never seen Simbu like this before. You can fall in love with Simbu's Karthik. He has that glint of wry humour and sarcasm in his eye, he has that underplayed ************ity, the subtle hints of young love and young lust and glimpses of raw emotion - be it anger, frustration or rage. From the first moment one sees him on screen to the last shot, Simbu stays with you all the way. It would be impossible to see him again in any of his gyrating, fancy-move-making movies after this one.

Trisha is the essence of angelic beauty. Innocent without losing her savvy; vulnerable without seeming helpless; confused in matters of the heart, without looking fickle. For Trisha too, this is perhaps one of the finest, most poignant roles she has done.

Ganesh, who has been part of the Madhan-Ganesh executive producer duo with Gautham since the days of Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, surprises us all by being fabulous. and himself in the movie! His sarcastic sense of humour, his mantle of reliability without being prudish and his comic timing with a straight face are worth applause - and applause he gets from the audience, every time!

Manoj Paramahamsa has magic in his lenses or fingers or something! The crystal clarity and sharp purity of every frame - night or day - is that of an expert veteran. The entire viewing experience has been enhanced simply because he has made it possible for every frame to look lucid, sharp and pleasing.

I feel hesitant to even mention the masterpiece that A.R. Rahman has created in the sound track. From song to song, to the background score, the moods of each moment are captured by this genius and this movie would be but a fraction of what it is without his music.

Points to ponder

Just like Vaaranam Aayiram, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa too is not a story but a process of story-telling. The movie is one long flow of emotions and incidents and not really a neatly categorized tale. Great for a seamless screenplay and showing the beauty of every moment, unfettered by the framework of any particular need in the script to move the next level. In this lies its minuses as well. For, at times, there seems to be little progression in the lives of Karthik and Jessie as he chases her and she tremulously reciprocates her love for him. It almost seems as if the entire movie is a struggle for him to convince her to defy the world and be with him; so also it seems she is constantly in turmoil, telling him to run away from a futile relationship even as she showers her love upon him. One almost feels the urge to stand up and tell Jessie, "Look at the boy! What are you waiting for! Will you please go for it!"

The movie has been beautifully shot. This is perhaps the first Tamil movie I have seen in a long time that is comparable to a progressive Hindi or English movie. The camera angles, the expressions of the actors, the muted, Mani Ratnam-style of dialogue delivery, the finely choreographed fight sequences, the subtle ways of bringing out the personalities of the protagonists. perfect. While I personally find the last parts of the movie a little lagging behind in pace and intrigue, I can't help but give full marks for technical efficiency of screenplay and editing. Between Gautham, Manoj, Rajeevan and Anthony, VTV is a beautiful moving painting. Perhaps an elegant snip here and there in the second half would make it even tighter and focused.

Malta is gorgeous, New York is heady, Goa is breathtaking and Kerala is God's own country. Their individual beauties have been captured inspiringly by Manoj. Unfortunately, they all appear only for a few minutes to the audience, except for Kerala, where there are actually longer and vital scenes shot. The rest of the movie is mostly shot, in true Gautham Menon style, in and around Chennai's favourite hangouts - Gautham's own office, Sathyam Cinemas and so on, with travel thrown in many a time in Simbu's or Gautham's own cars! Even the crew members are boys and girls from Gautham's own team! At some places, these are nice to watch and feel the warm glow of familiarity to the places and the people. At times, it makes one wonder what exactly the film's budget was!

There are interesting quirks in the storyline that bring in some personal elements: a brief glimpse of an actual movie being made by Gautham as we speak, the journey of Karthik (who once wanted to work with "director Gautham Menon" when he went looking for a job) as a struggling filmmaker, the taboo of working in the cinema industry and the engineering and science-math backgrounds of Karthik and Jessie remind us of Gautham himself or, if you're from Chennai, the familiar institutions and favourite hangouts of our growing-up lives.

Verdict

For sheer beauty of every shot, for Simbu's excellent work, for A.R. Rahman's achingly beautiful music, for Trisha's angelic presence, for the director's sleek screenplay and for the love of good cinema - please watch it!

Beware: Learn to ignore the stagnancy of pace sometimes or the lack of progression to the next level in Jessie and Karthik's relationship. Clarity will find you toward the end

Review #3:

After a successful Vaaranam Aayiram, Gautham Vasudev Menon ventures into his next, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, focusing entirely on the most catholic emotion in the world, LOVE, a subject that the brilliant director is known to handle with style, finesse, panache and a lot of heart. Although, VTV could have been an apt Valentine’s Day presentation, it nevertheless does not cease to impress the target audience, the YOUTH. VTV is all about falling in love, the emotions, confusions and the innumerable rollercoaster sensations associated with it. Karthik (Silambarasan), a mechanical engineer is an aspiring film director. It is love at first sight for this young man with his landlord’s daughter Jessy (Trisha), a Malayalee Christian and a computer professional. Karthik expresses his love to her in a quite unexpected manner but she does not accept it citing practical reasons. Notwithstanding her absence even for a short while, Karthik, in her pursuit, reaches Kerala along with his cinematographer friend Ganesh.

He finds Jessy in the pretext of apologizing to her for his behavior but earns her friendship. The ensuing train trip to Chennai from Allapuzha paves way for a deeper bond between the two. Meanwhile Karthik rubs Jessy’s brother on the wrong side which creates a wedge between the two families and Karthik’s family is made to vacate the premises. This triggers the hasty fixing of marriage for Jessy in Kerala. Needless to say, Karthik reaches there and what happens thereafter form the crux of Vinnai Thaandi Varuavaayaa. The answers to questions like whether Karthik and Jessy unite in marriage or go their individual ways are narrated with a trademark Gautham Menon’s style.

An all new Silambarasan, with a complete make over steals the show. An amazing performance from the young super star! His dialogue delivery, body language, voice modulations, dance movements are all right in place and VTV is a definite milestone for him. He has lived the character of Karthik in every cell. His dexterity with feet reaches a crescendo in the Hosanna number. Trisha is lovely in Nalini Sriram’s simple, relatable costumes and comes alive as a confused woman, not knowing her path. Ganesh as Silambarasan’s friend is adorable and the combination takes charge of humor component. Naga Chaitanya and Samantha make a cameo.

Directorial touches of Gautham Menon are abundant through out the film especially with the portrayal of his characters which are very real. His stamp is unmistakable in the last scene when he juxtaposes real and real events. The director once again proves that he is after all a master craftsman especially in matters of love. The dialogues between Silambarasan and Ganesh are highly enjoyable and natural and that between him and Trisha receive loud applause from the audience. A sample is Silambarasan’s retort to Trisha when she wonders about his trip to Kerala- “When people go all out to America to woo their girl, I have after all come to Kerala.”

This is the first time Gautham teams up with A R Rahman and his music has already scorched the charts and the songs are the strong pillars to the film. Audience breaks into a thunderous rapture with Hosanna and the choreography only highlights the effects of the number. Omana Penne is a poetic delight when the music, lyrics and the visuals weave a magical spell!

It is a visual treat through Manoj Paramahamsa’s camera work when the backwaters of Kerala, ancient churches of Malta and USA are brought alive. The song sequences are a poetic treat indeed! Antony at the editing desk and Rajeevan helming art department lend a right kind of support to the film.

On the flip side, the narration takes its own sweet time to unfold and it does not help much especially in the second half when things take time to move forward which tests the patience. The scene between Trisha and Silambarasan in USA is one such example. For people who expect a breezy love story VTV might disappoint them. A uniform engaging script and a crisper narrative could have tilted the balance completely in favor of this all love flick.

Verdict: Dreamy love story in an unhurried pace!

Rating: 3/5