Cast: 'Padmashri' Vivek, VTM Charlie, Pooja Devariya, Paige Henderson, Dev, Gajaraj
Direction: Vivek Elangovan
Story & Screenplay: Shanmuga Bharathi, Vivek Elangovan
Production: Indus Entertainments, Tentkotta, Trident Arts (Distribution)
Music: Ramgopal Krishnaraju
Genre: Suspense Thriller
Language: Tamil
Version: 2D
Runtime: 2 hrs 02 mins
Censor Certificate: U/A
Plot - Rudhran ('Padmashri' Vivek), a retired police officer goes to Seattle, USA, to live with his son Ajay (Dev). Ajay has married an American woman named 'Alice' (Paige Henderson), where Rudhran doesn't accept her as his daughter-in-law. One day, Ajay's neighbour gets kidnapped, which becomes a serious issue. Apart from the investigation by Seattle Police, Rudhran shows a great curiosity towards this case. This kidnap goes on increasing. How Ruthran solves this case and finds the real culprit forms the crux of the story.
Positives
'Padmashri' Vivek delivers a solid performance, by playing the retired cop character in a very convincing way. His salt & pepper look is really impressive. His character has been framed in a very strong way, which creates an interest in the investigation scenes. Apart from the serious cop role, Vivek makes us enjoy some of his comic one-liners. Charlie plays an important supporting character, where he travels with Vivek throughout the investigation portions. He delivers a good performance, by justifying his character decently. Pooja Devariya delivers a convincing performance. The other two important actors Dev and Paige Henderson have given their best performance. All the other actors have given their good support throughout the film. Jerald Peter's cinematography work is really good, in which he has shown Seattle very beautifully. Praveen KL's editing looks crisp and sleek. Ramgopal Krishnaraju's songs are not bad. 'Innum Sila Naatkalil' song is good to hear. His background score helps to maintain the suspense element in the investigation portions. Shanmuga Bharathi and Vivek Elangovan have written the story & the screenplay. They have given their best to present a convincing suspense thriller. The writing is really good, in which the suspense element has been sustained in a convincing way. The further investigation process goes on creating a curiosity. The family emotions have been lightly used, which works in the required portion. I liked Vivek's imagination on handling the case from the culprit's perspective and how he gets the proper question & answer for it, to find the reason behind the culprit's action. The film begins with a very good start. In the first half, the screenplay takes some time to settle into the plot. In that duration, the film deals with the father-son bonding between Vivek and Dev, Vivek's friendship with Charlie and Paige Henderson's struggle to convince his father-in-law. After getting into the plot, the film becomes engaging slowly. The interval point is good. In the second half, the screenplay takes few minutes to get back to the engaging flow. From there, the suspense gets built up properly and the investigation process becomes interesting. The mystery, which gets unfolded at the climax is the major highlight of the film, as our guesses will go wrong there. At that point, the film conveys a good message to the society, which looks good and justifies the title.
Negatives
Even though the cinematography is good, a few scenes have low-quality visuals which could have been shot well. The first half is not bad, which will not give us a boring feel. But, there are some lagging issues, which could have been avoided. The director's treatment looks simple in selected portions. The duration of a few scenes could have been trimmed a little bit. Few intelligent people may predict that biggest suspense in the climax, with some of the thriller genre films experience. Still, most of them will get surprised at the end. The climax looks good only, but few of them may feel it as a simple and a usual ending only. In between, few logical loopholes can be found and logical questioning arises. The film will not give you an edge-of-the-seat experience still, you will travel along with Vivek in his investigation, with a good level of curiosity.
Verdict
'Vellai Pookal' is a good investigative suspense thriller, in which Vivek has carried the entire film on his shoulder. His performance is really superb, in which his investigation portions holds the interest. The suspense element has been properly maintained throughout the film. The mystery, which gets revealed at the end is really good and unpredictable. Apart from the above-mentioned flaws, the film will not disappoint you in any way. You will come out of the theatre with complete satisfaction of watching a good film. This film deserves 'worth watchable once' category for Vivek's strong performance and also for a good suspense thriller experience. Watch it with your family and friends in theatres.
Cut Short Rating - 8.3/10
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