chapsmack

Vanaja is a film of superlatives. It has an exceptionally well thought-out cast with Mamatha being the crowning jewel, a superb production and possibly pre-production with Rajnesh at the helm, a fantastic journey of rural Southern India through the eyes of a 15 year old, a remarkable mixture of song and dance, traditional and modern, blended perfectly, and a beautiful backdrop of lush color of the flora and fauna that make up the magnificent experience. What a towering achievement for a debut director!! The casting was absolutely dead-on. I wish India would come out with more of such films. This film will remain as one of my top favorites for my entire life. 9/10.

Madhavan needs to take his head out of the sand and prove what a versatile actor he really is. None of the actors impressed, and the less said of the heroine, the better. The storyline is wafer thin, and then it is stretched for an abysmal two and a half hours which is more of a test of your skills in patience. You would be better off watching a rerun of a movie you liked than wasting your time with this one. The only reason for writing this review is to warn you to stay away from this, not even worth watching on video, or even if someone pays you to watch it!! On the contrary you can use it as a good move on an arch enemy of yours...it really does function well as a good torture equipment!! 4/10.

So what kind of audience was this movie made for? Unless you are a gung-ho fan of the starcast, there is absolutely no necessity to watch this movie, even on video. Heck, I couldn't manage to watch the film even while fast forwarding half the scenes, that's how bad this was. Absolutely zero storyline and a waste of talent from all the notables that were cast. The comedy scenes were pathetic and the entire movie was so predictable that even a five year old could have told you what happened next. And the villain, less said the better. Maybe you can watch the film to see how hopeless it is. Ravi Teja needs to select his roles more properly or else he will be a baladoor for his entire life. 4/10.