Varisu

Varisu is all about family values. No matter how unforgivable one person's mistakes be, if they are family then all is forgiven. Having said that, Varisu sticks to the age old family drama template mixed with masala elements to do justice to it's superstar lead. The rebellious younger son who is ousted from the family makes a comeback to mend the broken family. With enough father-son, mother-son, brothers sentiment, Vamsi Paidipally presents a done to death screenplay as a festival treat.

To speak the positives, the film is lavishly shot with vibrant colors. Vijay seems to having sheer fun playing this character and several ordinary scenes get elevated solely by his performance. With a runtime of 2hrs 50mins, the film is way too long but it is those funny moments with Vijay that makes it almost work. The predictable screenplay, weak villain and weakly written supporting cast doesn't offer anything new content wise. The action scenes too don't stand out. Despite all this, it is not a bad watch at all but Vijay saves it from being entirely bland.

Varisu (2023) : Movie Review -

Vamshi Paidipally teams up with superstar Vijay for a family masala entertainer, Varisu. This is nothing but Vanshi and Vijay's attempt at remodelling Allu Arjun's "Ala Vaikunthapurumoolu" (which celebrates its 3rd anniversary today, along with its Hindi remake Shehzada dropping the trailer on the same day). Too many family drama cliches for me in one day. Vamshi has done 5 films till date, and he has always worked with a new superstar each time, so Varisu was made for Vijay after he worked with Prabhas, Jr. NTR, Ram Charan, Nagarajuna, Karthi and Mahesh Babu. It seems that he is more desperate for superstars than for his storytelling. Opiri Thozha and Maharshi still tried to tackle important subjects, but other works haven't been anything but old cliches. Varisu is no different. It brings all the old scenes of family masala flicks together, mixes Vijay's style, a few references from his movies like Thupakki and Master, an 80s background score, daily soap style pauses, and romantic dance numbers in one bottle that drops water for almost 3 hours.

Vijay Rajendran (Vijay), the youngest son of an eminent business magnate, Rajendran Palanisamy (R. Sarathkumar), is disowned and thrown out of the house as he refused to join the family business, deciding to launch a food delivery startup instead. Vijay returns home for a family function and learns about his father's illness and that he has only a few months to live. To provide him a happy farewell, Vijay decides to take over the business and save it from his brothers, Ajay (Shaam) and Jay (Shrikanth). How Vijay saves the business and family both is all you get to see in Varisu.

Varisu is an outdated script, but that's not the major issue here. It's the screenplay that spoils both fun and soul here. There are cliches, yes, but how badly have they been written? Why does Vijay's character have to behave like a child before every aggressive moment? I mean, we all know that he is "the hero" and he is going to smash the opponents. We all know that he always has plans and comebacks to hit back, but why does he have to make a childish caricature for that? Moreover, why do you have to stretch a simple, 2-hour story to 170 minutes? Predictability is common nowadays, but it's even beyond that. You start murmuring dialogues even before they are delivered by the protagonist. As a whole, it's the screenplay and idealistic approach that turn the tables against Varisu.

Performance-wise, I don't really think that it was a film for "acting." Vijay gets to do everything he has been doing for years, just to make sure that you get bored of it at least this time. Action, romance, heroic dialogues, dance numbers, swaggy walks, and what not. Vijay does all of this, but in the meantime, he forgets to act. Rashmika Mandanna looks so cute that you'd like to kiss her, and that's the only reason why she has been sighed for this film (or maybe every film she does). Sarathkumar and Prabhu don't get enough chances, whereas Shaam and Srikanth get chances but waste them. Jayasudha plays the same old housewife and the ever-so-kind mother without any efforts, and Prakash Raj hardly does anything different. The supporting cast is there only to fill the frames, nothing else.

Coming to the technical aspects, Varisu is more like an unbearable daily soap than a feature film. Except for those "3-times-repeat-shots" and "Dhin ta na ta na," it has everything that can rule the nomination charts of the "Indian Television Awards 2023." The cinematography and action may please you, but only if you haven't seen much in the way of action flicks (I mean, which Vijay film hasn't really got it?). The music is somewhat good. You will enjoy the lavish set design and choreography, but why have an overdose of it? Vamshi Paidipally could have attempted another important subject after Opiri and Maharshi, but he decided to make this one. It's like getting out on a duck after hitting half a century in the previous two matches. As a whole, Varisu is strictly for Vijay and Rashmika's fans, who can sit for 3 hours only to see them moving on the screens. I wouldn't even recommend Veeram and Ala Vaikunthapurumoolu to content lovers, forget Varisu.

RATING - 4/10*

Wayyyyyy too long for this over the top family drama. Taking you back to the 1980s predictable from the start. Heroine had awhole of 20 mins that is including songs. Only saving grace is vijay comedy scenes and dance. One time watchable only. Huge star cast total let down as all characters are half baked. It's time for vijay to invest in decent scripts rather then dishing out garbage . Quality over quantity. Maybe to start with picking roles for his age. Kept checking time and waiting for it to finish. In the end yup you knew the ending in the first 5 mins into the movie. Sj Surya cameo was a worthy surprise.

I think Vijay had a list of TODO/wishes and one of them was to make a direct Telugu film, this film checks off that item from his wishlist, that's how I see this film.

It's a typical Telugu commercial masala film and not much different from other thousands of Telugu films that have ever been made.

One slight differentiator is that it is directly linked to the Hindi film: K3G, which came 22 years back, and if you have watched & liked that film, the probability of you liking this film goes up tremendously. I have an emotional connection with K3G and hence the first half of this film gelled very well, especially the mother-son sentiment worked really well for me, that's the best part of the film for me.

Similarly, there are many other Telugu film references like the previous Allu-Arjun films' board room meeting scene and it might connect with some other people and so on & so forth, that's the beauty/Pros of making a collage film.

Vijay's mannerisms with dialogues from other multiple films mocking others & a few times in Redin Kingsley's mannerisms lifted the scenes to a different level altogether. The thing is even with different hairstyles (IDK, if it's a wig) & his stomach puffed up, he's still watchable.

And all the other actors did play their roles very well, especially the 2 who played the parents produced top-notch performances that take us into an emotional roller-coaster ride, that's the beauty of having the senior most actors in the film.

Basically, it's a wholesome family entertainer with gameplay within the family business and hence it might give a bit of a feel like watching a serial, especially in the 2nd half where the film gets slow but still not bad enough at all as you literally get to have that satisfaction of having full meals after watching the entire film.

Overall, it is definitely a one-time watch if you want to have a wholesome feeling all from one single film, especially if you like watching the usual Telugu commercial films.

I'm not opposed to family drama films. But I'm having trouble connecting with this one. A wealthy family is experiencing family conflict. Our hero arrives to preach everyone, making them realize their error and directing them in the right direction. A large mansion with limited people. The restroom alone is the size of a football stadium. Everyone is driving expensive cars and talking about billions of dollars and share market. Majority of the audience members were unfamiliar with the rich life and they were unable to connect with the movie.

Lets come to our hero who preach his mother, father, brother, sister in law, police man, servant, Villans, audience list goes on.. OMG i cant tolerate. U cant forceful keep a preaching dialogue just to show he is some kind of saint. Just one time(accidentally) watchable, such a bore to core.