Yeidhavan (Tamil, 2017)

You need to be a good sport to accept such a role which is not heroic by conventional terms. No wonder Kalaiyarasan is working in multiple projects with a steady flow of releases. He is able to naturally bring the common man element that is necessary for scripts like these and make an impact.

The core plot of the film written and directed by Sakthi Rajasekaran is impressive. He has handled the way the two tracks merge pretty well making us sit up and take notice whilst also keeping proceedings engaging aided by the unique characterization of Naren and Krishna Kumar. The key accident scene needs to be lauded for the exquisite choreography & reveal. 

The film has some excellent casting overall with ‘Aadukalam’ Naren particularly impressive. Vela Ramamoorthy adds weight to the proceedings in a small role. The new faces who are on the other side of the law, Krishna Kumar (as the ruffian Dharman) and Goutham (as the suave Gaurav), are great finds and perform well.

Parthav Barggo’s background music helps in upping the engagement quotient majorly while Prem Kumar’s camera work is also admirable.

It is sad that in spite of the scope to have a say, Satna Titus is wasted. While it is great to see that she has a job without just functioning as just the eye candy for the Hero, her screen space gets mightily limited as we move into the second half.

For a film with such a strong core, the climax is a massive let down and feels damp. The elaborate stunt sequence which doesn’t look organic and the sudden entry of numerous students looks straight out of another period of Tamizh cinema. The dialogues also seem to want to convey too much when a couple of visuals might have been adequate.