Sattendru Maarudhu Vaanilai Review: Amidst all of the flash and the romance, the background is loud and the slow-motion scenes remind the audience that Sattendru Maarudhu Vaanilai has to be a serious commercial entertainer but lurking beneath all the glitz and glam is a much darker and interesting thriller that desperately tries to come out. It’s a film that combines romance, political drama, voyeuristic crime and psychological suspense into a single suit of clothes, helmed by director Babu Vijay, but not always a well-fitting one. The chemistry between Jai and Meenakshi Govindarajan is bold, intensely glamorous – sometimes it works, sometimes it becomes the emotional burden of this story.
When the plot takes a turn for thriller, there is enough discomfort and intrigue that Ramachandra Raju’s disturbing villain track with secretly recorded honeymoon couples is a welcome addition. Unfortunately, the film never focuses and the gripping last few minutes are more of an aggravation than anything else because they suggest that there’s actually a great film in there, but it’s just all wrapped up in a lot of craziness.
It’s about Jai who is an IT guy, has no parents in the world and lives with his close friends throughout his life. The other one is Meenakshi Govindarajan, the daughter of a minister whose father wants her to be the second wife of a powerful politician. Amid this setup, Jai repeatedly bumps into Meenakshi Govindarajan at a pub, on the road and during social functions. He flirts with her casually, falls in love with her and then they soon get married.
The other thread of the romance continues, with a dark twist, where Ramachandra Raju portrays a perverted villain, who owns a range of luxury hotels and resorts, and is also secretly recording honeymoon couples and selling their intimate footage on dark websites. Finally, Jai and Meenakshi Govindarajan end up in this terrible situation and the movie charts their attempt to come out of the situation.
A thing that I instantly noticed was Jai’s acting. All through the film, I was sure that he was trying to copy Vijay with his expressions, body language and words. Some fans will be pleased by these familiar behaviors, but personally I found my focus to be drawn away after awhile. When it comes to imitating, Jai has always been more convincing when it comes to it, and here it’s far too apparent to not be noticed. Rather than supporting the character it was more of a distraction from the emotional moments.
The romantic portions between Jai and Meenakshi Govindarajan are presented in an extremely glamorous and bold manner. Romance, glamour and sensuality become almost a constant in the lead couple’s interactions throughout the film. Sometimes it’s as if it’s two actors acting out scenes rather than two people that are deeply connected to one another. Chemistry is definitely present, but there’s too much focus on the glitz and glam at times, and not enough on the emotion the story really needed.
I was surprised by one performer, Yogi Babu. Throughout the movie, he is seen in various shades ranging from playing a comedian, to character background roles and even roles involving the darker side of the plot. It’s fascinating to follow him multi-layer his way in and out of the film, and he’s got little extra juice when the script begins to drag. Some of the other characters in the movie, particularly the role of the friend that accompanies him, also do a respectable job.
One of the things I don’t like about the film is its screenplay structure. I really had to ask myself if it was a love story, a crime thriller, a suspense drama or a psychopath based movie. The director is failing to give any of the genres due consideration. The first half is at least moderately fast, and holds the attention of the audience with romance and mystery. But the second half is very slow and unnecessarily extends several scenes. Quite interestingly, the last half-hour turned into a suspenseful and thriller-like conclusion, similar to a suspense novel. That is all that portion offers me a taste of what the film would have been had it remained in such a tone throughout the film.
I couldn’t help it but remember that Babu Vijay was allegedly under A. R. Murugadoss earlier. Not a lot of the sharp storytelling and impactful commercial filmmaking was there for the taking, sadly. There’s a lack of emotional impact in the moments that need it; it’s not as clear as it could be in terms of genre; it’s not as powerful as it could be technically.
Technically, too, the film left me disappointed. The background score did not really draw the attention up and the songs were forgettable and the overall look and feel was less than the standards for a theatrical release. It was a bad idea to release this film along with Karuppu as it was completely overshadowed by the latter.
I would sum up the film as a potential good idea, that gets lost under a bunch of confused narration and inconsistent delivery. Finally, I had a good idea in Sattendru Maarudhu Vaanilai, buried under a stew of confused narration and inconsistent delivery. A better script, a better controlled glamour usage in the film and a more realistic approach to performing from Jai would have made a world of difference. Rather, the movie is a substandard theatrical dud that never realizes what it should really be.
Rating: 2/5
