Valimai Review {2.0/5} & Review Rating
VALIMAI is the story of an honest cop fighting a bike gang. Chennai has become the hub for drugs, especially the one that comes from Colombia. A bike gang has suddenly cropped up in the Tamil Nadu city. It steals the drugs from Colombia whenever it gets docked in Chennai. Their modus operandi, however, is unique. When they steal the drugs, they also commit murders and indulge in chain snatching incidents. With cases rising steadily, Arjun (Ajith Kumar), an honest and upright cop, is asked to solve the case. Arjun is the first one to join the dots and realise that the chain snatching, murder and drugs are all interconnected. He's also able to use his intellect and find out that the leader of this biker gang Naren (Kartikeya Gummakonda) is using dark web to get his work done. He almost finds his location too. However, an alert Naren realizes that he’s about to get caught and escapes. Naren challenges Arjun and their war turns ugly, especially after Naren drags Arjun’s family into the madness. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
H Vinoth’s story has the potential. H Vinoth’s screenplay, however, is not upto the mark. The narrative is not simplified and it takes a while to understand what exactly is happening. The dialogues in Hindi are okay.
H Vinoth’s direction has the mass appeal. It is evident that he knows how to handle the grandeur. He has handled a few scenes exceptionally. The part where Arjun is able to hack into Naren’s site is too good and the best part of the film. Arjun’s entry is also heroic. On the flip side, the execution is shaky at several places. In such films, one should ideally not look for logic. Yet, in some scenes, there’s absolute lack of sense and it becomes difficult to digest certain developments. Hence, one doesn’t even empathize when the protagonist faces problems. Moreover, the villains are projected in a caricature manner.
Speaking of performances, Ajith Kumar is in top form. He brings the star power that was required in a film of this scale. Kartikeya Gummakonda is over the top in the role of the villain. Huma Qureshi (Sophia) is decent. Bani J (Sara) is fine and suits the part. Pearle Maaney (Christina), of LUDO [2020] fame, is lovely. Sumithra (Arjun’s mother), Achyuth Kumar (Kundan: Arjun’s drunkard brother) and the actors playing Arjun’s brother Ashu, Kundan’s wife Chithra, Selva, Officer Sarkar and officer Sasan are passable.
Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is wasted as VALIMAI ideally should have been a song-less film. 'Mother Song' and 'Dekhi Lahu’ are forgettable. 'Whistle Theme’ is catchy but it is relegated to the background. 'Dhana Dhani’ is missing in the Hindi version. Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score is exhilarating.
Boney Kapoor: “Valimai has fantastic action that’s never seen before” | Ajith Kumar | Salman Khan
Nirav Shah's cinematography is breathtaking. Dhilip Subbarayan's action is grand and appealing. K Kadhir's art direction is first-rate. Anu Vardhan's costumes are appealing. Vijay Velukutty's editing is poor. The film should have been shorter by 20 minutes.
On the whole, VALIMAI [Hindi] suffers from long length, complicated narrative and lack of logic. At the box office, thanks to the limited buzz, it will struggle to find an audience. The business in B and C centres might be a bit respectable due to the mass element.
