Valimai Movie Review

After the Pink Tamil remake (Nerkonda Parvai), Ajith Kumar has yet again teamed up with its director H Vinoth for Valimai, an action thriller. Vinoth’s last outing in Telugu was Karthi’s Khakee that was received well. This naturally has generated good buzz around Valimai. Has the film lived up to its hype? Let’s take a look.

What is it about?

Satan’s Slaves is an organised crime done by jobless youth through their motorcyle club. They choose chain snatching, drugs and murders to make quick money. Police couldn’t nab them due to their modus operandi of crime. Arjun (Ajith Kumar) steps in to nab the criminals and put an end to this. Will Arjun succeed? How does Arjun’s family get involved and how does he handle it all?

Performances:

Ajith is no stranger to cop roles. Yet he makes his own mark with the role of police officer Arjun. He looks stylish, smart and dapper. At this age, Ajith gives his best for stunts that stand out in this action thriller. He deserves a pat on his back. In bike sequences and action episodes, Ajith mesmerises. But director Vinoth hasn’t fully utilized Ajith’s capabilities.Karthikeya Gummakonda got a big break as a villain opposite Ajith. He got a substantial role with full-length screen presence. He has delivered what is expected from a smart villain. Huma Qureshi is confined to a fellow investigating officer. She doesn’t get much to showcase. Achyuth Kumar as Ajith’s brother is alright. None of the other actors leave much impact.

Technicalities:

Cop chasing a criminal plot is an age-old plot. Director Vinoth tries to infuse technology, gadgets, bikes and internet-based crime. The concept and modus operandi of crime is striking and appealing. It seems good on paper. But the film falters in its execution. Lack of intriguing scenes does the damage. Background score is impressive. Visuals are appealing. Sound mixing stands out. Production values and stylish making deserve special mention. Lengthy episodes put us off.

Highlights

Bike Stunts
Stylish Presentation

Drawbacks

Lengthy Sequences
Predictable Twists
Family Episodes

Analysis:

Valimai is filled with bikes, helmets, fancy tattoos and latest gadgetry. It is all about drugs, chain snatching and brutal murders. Educated youth who are unable to get jobs and dejected by family and society form as a group called ‘Satan’s Slaves’, a Motorcycle club that is behind all the crimes in Visakhapatnam. Their motive is money. They build a network and they use graffiti for communication through which they send codes for the mission. All these become a big challenge to the police department.

A good, honest police officer Arjun gets transferred from Vijayawada to Visakhapatnam. As soon as he lands in the beach city, his focus shifts on the city’s crimes. The initial proceedings were engaging. The bike stunts, stylish presentations were all good. However, the film moves at snail’s pace. The action thriller is bogged down by the family episodes and unwanted emotions. The first half takes too long testing the audience’s patience. The interval episode is engaging though.

The second half is a big bore. Particularly, the family episodes take the centre stage pushing the main story to the back-seat. The cat-and-mouse sequences should have been better. Action thrillers ought to be taut. But Ajith’s Valimai fails in delivering that. Particularly, the protagonist loses a chunk of energy in fighting against his own police bosses rather than fighting the baddie. And in the end, the villain kidnaps the hero’s family that we’re watching from time immemorial. The blessing in disguise is the investigation scenes. How the hero nabs the villain and his identity, whereabouts make for an interesting watch. Rest all is just filling.

On the whole, it has its moments here and there. The interval episode is good. But that won’t satiate the hunger. The film leaves us asking for more.

Bottom-Line: Not Racy

Rating: 2.5/5