Disclaimer: This is not a professional review and is merely my one-cent worth thoughts of the movie.
I love romantic movies. If I were given a wide genres and language of movies to pick a movie to watch, undoubtedly it would be a romantic movie regardless of the language. That explains my favourite movie list which is 90% dominated by romance stories. This is one of the many reasons why I waited for VTV for so long. I am no big fan of Simbhu. I was not one. His finger actions, loud self- promoting dialogues and acrobatic dance movements never attracted me. And Trisha’s blank and boring doll-like expressions were not my cup of tea either. However, the two elements, which made me hooked to the movie from the day it was announced, were Gautham Vasudev Menon wielding the megaphone and VTV being Oscar Tamilan A.R.Rahman’s first Tamil Album after Oscar. Those two reasons were solid enough to watch the movie, I thought.
But after watching this movie, I feel that the main characters were aptly chosen as any other actors apart from Simbhu and Trisha would not have done justice to the story. Though everyone is going gaga over the movie, surprisingly I find it just nice. The story is nothing novel but the presentation is. There is no villain in the story. All the clichéd elements in Tamil love stories such as feuding parents, different religion, educational background, career and age gap are evident in the story. However, the true villain is the lead characters’ personalities and their fickle mind which is more realistic. It’s not the run of the mill love story. There is a lot of love, abundance of confusions, a little humour and a shocking twist.
An aspiring filmmaker, engineering graduate Karthik falls in love at first sight with Jessie, a Malayalee-Christian not movie watching computer programmer. VTV is all about how Karthik woos Jessie, makes her fall in love head over heels and loses her. I am not interested in explaining the twists and revelations for that is for you to watch on screen. All I can say is that when you come out of the movie, the lead characters will linger in your mind for sometime making you to judge their personality and decisions in life but it seems realistic though.
It is quite surprising to see a subtle, cool Simbhu. Goutham has really moulded him into Karthik and hence Simbhu looks convincing as Karthik. Though sometimes he copies Surya’s mannerisms in Vaaranam Aayiram in the romantic scenes. Especially his reaction upon seeing Jessie is much like Surya’s expressions in the train looking at Sameera. Trisha is a revelation as we are so used to seeing her as the hero’s arm candy. She bagged a good role in her career and utilised it well. Her portrayal of a matured, yet confused girl trapped between her parents and her lover is quite believable. The surprise winner is undoubtedly my favourite singer Chinmayi who has rendered her voice for Trisha. Her voice is full of emotions and sweet but at times, I saw Sameera instead of Trisha since Chinmayi has borrowed her voice for Sameera in both VA and Asal.
As a hardcore fan of Alaipayuthe who remembers each dialogue in the movie, I feel Gautham’s dialogues reminded me of that romantic entertainer. Be it the hero’s name or when the hero asks Jessie to make decision and when she answers “naan enna panne Karthik” everything reminds me of Alaipayuthe. Traces of Gautham’s debut movie Minnale is also evident here and there. Scenes where Jessie asks Karthik to bring her somewhere for 3 hours or the part where she tells that she does not befriend boys and that he is the first are some of the examples.
On the music department, Rahman has done his best. Though my favourite pick in the album is Mannipaya.it’s Hosaana’s picturization that steals the heart. Songs do make the movie a bit slow. Overall, VTV is a good romantic movie with a twist that worth watching.
