Valiyavan

Subhiksha stops Vinod at a public place and declares that she is in love with him. Then, she vanishes from that spot leaving him to search for her in vain for days. Finally, she meets him and tells that she was just playing a prank. But Vinod, who has fallen for her, keeps chasing her and so, she tells him that she will agree to be his lover if he can beat Ashwin. This Ashwin is an international boxer — a silver medalist at the Olympics, no less — while Vinod is barely familiar with the sport. If you find this Maan Karate-like set-up ludicrous, this is definitely not the film for you. With one of the most preposterous scripts in recent times, M Saravanan, the director of Engaeyum Eppothum disappoints in Valiyavan, which wants to be a youthful romantic film, a family drama, a sports film and a revenge film but if you are posed this question, better choose none of the above. The first half is a complete letdown, with overlong sequences of Vinod trying to find Subhiksha's identity, too many songs and a flashback involving the leads' first meeting, where Jai goes overboard with his drunk act that is so unfunny (the only moment of note is when he kisses a beggar on the lips). Dialogue delivery has never been this actor's strength and yet, he is made to provide unnecessary voiceovers, which he mumbles to himself. Meanwhile, Andrea emotes as little as the costumes she wears, and the absence of chemistry between these two actors takes away every bit of romance there might have been in this story. Things are somewhat better in the second half when the director gets down to the actual plot. Vinod's embarrassment in not having protected his parents (an endearing Azhagamperumal and Anupama Kumar) during an incident and Subhiksha's involvement in making him erase that bitter memory. This is where we finally get some amount of drama, but even here the script keeps trying to become bizarre. Vinod is taught boxing by a security guard and then a swami he meets at a temple! Meanwhile, Ashwin's character is made even more despicable with the revelation that he agreed to lose the gold medal in exchange for cash in a Swiss bank account! Some parts of the film, though, are interesting — a mildly amusing flop show of a date, the father-son drama between Vinod and Raghu, the relationship between Raghu and Subhiksha (they are co-workers and confidantes despite their age gap), and the manner in which the director withholds information and then reveals why some characters behave in a certain way. This somewhat lessens the absurdity of the incidents in the first half but the film never manages to land a punch.