Vedalam

Vedalam (English: Phantom) is a 2015 Indian Tamil action-masala film written and directed by Siva, and produced by S. Aishwarya. Ajith Kumar and Shruti Haasan play the lead roles, with Lakshmi Menon, Ashwin Kakumanu, and Kabir Duhan Singh among others, appearing in supporting roles. Anirudh Ravichander composed the film's music and background score, while Vetri and Ruben were the film's cinematographer and editor respectively.

Films positive + Ajith - screen presence semma ! Anirudh - Songs OK but BGM semma ! Lakshmi Menon - Semma acting ! Looked like real sibling. Screenplay - Movie was like Singam ! Perfect !

Films negative - Sruthi Hassan - Felt like why she was acting in the film. Soori - Some worked but most didn't.

Ajith has always excelled at playing characters with shades of Grey and until now it worked wonders. Ever since that Rajini movie came out every other Tamil hero has tried to do something similar and failed to meet expectations. Ajith himself did this in Jana. Still, this may be the closest a star may have come to replicate Basha. Though the plot is different the themes are the same. The one major difference is that in that movie Rajini stays away from trouble in this one Ajith goes looking for it. Being a Vijay fan I did struggle a lot to sit through the terrible comedy and numerous hero worship scenes in the movie. But if you remove all that you end up with a Masala movie that can be watched once. I wanted to give this 5 but the message about women empowerment gets an extra star. Go for it if you need a Masala movie to forget the real world for a few hours.

After Veeram, Ajith and Siva are working together in Vedalam which is a film that is tailor-made for Ajith. Vedalam depends only on Ajith. We don't have much stronger supporting actors nor antagonist to equally match Ajith's screen presence. He is the only one who makes us cry, laugh, and engage throughout the film. He has two different shades in this film which he does with perfection. His look in the flashback is a very big treat for the fans. The flashback portion is a perfect tribute to his larger than life image. It's the place where Ajith shines like a star. We have seen so many revenge films in Tamil and Vedalam is again one among them. It's a simple revenge action drama that has shades of Suresh Krishna's Baashha and several action potboilers. Siva added strong sister sentiments which work only a few places and leave us with the feeling of a Déjà vu. The lack of originality seems to hit the film really hard because there's nothing interesting to get out from this film except Ajith's brilliant performance. The only factor that lifts the film is the fan moments specially made for Ajith fans. Other than that, Vedalam has nothing else to offer to the audience. Anirudh's adrenaline rushing background score and the famous "Aaluma Doluma" song works at the needed places and even adds the celebratory feel to the film. Overall, Vedalam is strictly for Ajith fans.

The Movie follows Revenge Masala Movie template used in numerous Tamil movies where an innocent looking common man is shown to be living dichotomous life. Heroine falls in love impressed with the good side of hero but then she discovers the other side and we are told in flashback the reason behind his merciless killing of villains. So in terms of Story it has nothing new to say and there is no novelty in terms of presentation or story telling either.

Best part of movie is Ajith himself who is just flawless in his portrayal of a simpleton with an honest and innocent smile. The way his expression transforms from that of a gullible innocent chap to rowdy cunningly street smart man is the highlight of his performance. In flashback scenes as Rowdy emotionless goon also he is very good. This is my first movie of Ajith and I am mighty impressed with his acting skills.

Shruthi Hassan has not much role to play except being a buffoon to bring in comic relief. Along with her is comedian Soori whose scenes mostly fall flat. Lakshmi Menon as Ajith's sister is good. Rest of the actors as in most of the Tamil movies are overacting most of the times. Rahul Dev and other villains are decent to good in their roles of being mighty villains for others but when faced with almighty hero they appear too small to even challenge him.

Movie is fast paced but the action scenes are way over the top. There are some good comic scenes and then there are jokes that fall flat. There are scenes where the director is able to create tension or thrill like the scene where Lakshmi Menon helps Rahul Dev in tracking killer of his brother – Ajith and the climax. Background music is good at places and at some places it gets too loud.

If you are in mood of watching a typical Indian potboiler or are a die hard Ajith fan this is good watch else avoidable

'Vedhalam' is a run-of-the-mill mass masala film which follows the 'Baashaa' template. But here the director had concentrated more on sister sentiment quotient.

The plot goes as below : Ganesh (Ajith Kumar), with his lovely sister (Lakshmi Menon) leads a simple life in Kolkotta. But Ganesh happens to target underworld dons with intention. What is the motive behind it and how he kills those scumbags follows the rest of the film.

Being a commercial genre film, the film provides few entertainment and mass moments throughout the film. Ajith Kumar's screen presence would be a treat for his fans. Lakshmi Menon has some space to perform in the film and she had justified her role.

Other than that, the film contains many negatives and logical loopholes. Surprisingly, Anirudh had failed to score good both in songs and background score.

Overall, this movie has been targeted for Ajith fans and the film had failed to impress the general audience.

Rating : 2/5