I have no issues with the so-called 'commercial mass-entertainers'. I enjoyed Baasha, Saamy, with some reservations, Singam, and of course Sivaji. I could never fully enjoy any Vijay's films and they have only partly to do with the actor. That said, my special criticism on Velayudham completely absolves Vijay of any responsibilities and places the blame squarely on Raja, the director.Velayudham is a violent film. In the Hollywood, they would have given it an 'R' rating. In the video stores, it would have been stacked alongside Saw, Hostel and Evil Dead. It is violent not just on physical but psychological level too. You see a man being sliced into two vertically, a sword being sent through one's head through his mouth, a man being tortured by being suspended on a hook and a knife being chucked onto his thighs, supposedly to make him spill some information. The last time I saw a similar scene was in Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
On a psychological level, here's a sample. In the film, women are abducted and forcibly entered into prostitution. A blind girl is 'mistakenly' taken into this cartel. Since she won't be of any use in the business, the head of this cartel, an ugly rogue, decides to keep and use her. Of course there's our hero, the saviour, who intervenes and beats him to pulp. A similar scene occurs in Bala's Naan Kadavul. However, Bala treated it with enormous sensitivity, and despite the scene being far more violent you cared for the situation. Well, you can't watch the scene satisfactorily. You cringe and you even get angry at Bala. In Velayudham, the scene is presented with the voyeuristic glee, not to mention the utmost sensitivity. The despicability of the situation is not conveyed but there's a almost a sadistic pleasure derived from the scene. Even when the saviour, the hero, appears on the scene, he doesn't jump onto the tormentor instantly. He stands atop the loft beam and poses for a while, as if waiting for the bad guy to get into an appropriate 'position'. The word 'Disgusting' is not appropriate for a film critic to use but there's no other suitable word.
Why is it that Bala can get away with that kind of violence but Raja can't. Simple answer: Parents don't take their children to cinema to watch Bala films. Only adults watch his films and even those who do know very well what they can expect. I know people who, despite their respect for Bala, decided not to watch it because it was 'too gory'. You don't have such pre-warning for Velayudham because it's supposed to be a 'mass family entertainer' and when scenes like this come up, you don't know how to process it. I don't know what was Velayudham's certification but if it was 'U', then we need an urgent and serious overhauling of our censor board. And don't even get me started on the sexual innuendos.
Aside from this, there is very little to write about the film or plenty to write about - depending on which angle you approach. The screenplay conveniently makes sure that the 'hero' is there in every important situation. This is called being in the right place at the right time. Not just during the initial scenes where 'convenient' co-incidents enable him to discover and remove the bombs planted by the terrorists but even in the later part of the movie where he consciously becomes the 'saviour'. He is there where the director wants him to be and he is seen by the characters who need to see him. This is not just lazy filmmaking but a slothful filmmaking.
And, finally, well, this has been my problem with almost every commercial entertainer in Tamil. All problems that the hero faces are solved simply by fighting. In the more intelligent part of the world, superheroes solve their problems by ingenious quick-thinking, in addition to muscle power. Any difficult situation - any number of bad guys whatever may be their abilities - disappears as soon as Velayudham is there. We don't need to worry any further because he is there. Even in the end when he is humbled by the wicked villain, we 'know' that he will survive and come back to beat up all of them as he did before. As if that amount of violence wasn't sufficient, Velayudham even ends up giving a lengthy speech in the end chiding the public and admonishing the system. That, in my view, was the biggest assault on our senses from Raja.
The morning after watching the film, when we told one of our relatives that we stayed awake till early hours to finish watching Velayudham, he was incredulous. 'Why?' he asked. 'It was a sadomasochistic exercise,' I said.
Master Piece.,I mean the review
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