Movie: Valimai
Genre: Action-Thriller
Cast: Ajith Kumar, Huma Qureshi, Karthikeya, Bani J and Others
Director: H Vinoth
Produced By: Boney Kapoor
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography: Nirav Shah
Runtime: 179 Minutes (2hrs 59Mins)
Story
Vizag City is shaken by multiple chain snatchings, killings and drug incidents. In a dilemma how to handle this, Vizag police bring in a tough cop, ACP Arjun (Ajith Kumar). How will he handle this case? Will it get personal? This forms rest of the story
Artiste Performances
Ajith Kumar delivers an excellent performance. In action scenes and few crucial emotional scenes, he gives his best and elevates the scenes and movie very well.
Karthikeya surprises you with his performance. He is menacing and delivers a great performance.
Huma Qureshi as Arjun's colleague gives a good performance. Bani J is just there and gives a decent performance too.
Arjun's family members make their presence felt with their emotional performances. Rest of the cast have done their part.
Plus Points
Ajith and Karthikeya Performances
Pre Interval Episode
All Bike and Action sequences
Message towards the end
Emotional quotient
Background score
Visuals
Production values
Drawbacks (Which I Felt)
Slow Pace
Runtime
Predictable at time
Analysis
Amid lots of hype and anticipation, Valimai finally hit the screens. Movie starts with establishing the crime in Vizag city with some intense visuals which will surely leave an impact.
Ajith's entry scene is fan pleasing and shot in a stylish way. Proceedings are flat till Ajith enters crime investigation as his family members and conflicts between them are introduced.
From the moment Ajith enters crime scene, movie picks up but the pace is inconsistent till the Pre-interval point.
Pre-interval episode is one of the major highlights in the movie. Bike chase is shot terrifically which gives you a never before experience with a solid twist. Interval point is emotional yet superb.
Second half is more engaging compared to first half. An action sequence comes right after the second half begins which will arrest you to screens. All the bike, chase and action scenes are extraordinary.
Though second half is engaging, it too has some uneven pacing at places. After a high octane action sequence, pace drops and picks up after few minutes which might bore you a bit.
Emotional quotient of the movie completely is brought in second half that bring depth to the proceedings. After another awesome chase and action sequence movie ends with a message.
Team has done an excellent job in including just 2 songs in this 3hrs journey which definitely is a daring step. They have succeeded in keeping audience hooked to the screens with action sequences.
Camera work is yet another major asset to the movie especially during chase and action sequences. Editing is decent but could have been better as 3hrs feel too long. Trimming a few scenes here and there could have made the movie more crisp. Production values are rich
Yuvan Shankar Raja's songs are good but kills it with BGM which absolutely elevates the chase and action episodes to next level. Dialogues are good.
(MY) Final Word
From the teasers and trailers, Valimai promised to be a high voltage action thriller and it lives upto it for most of the time. Leaving its uneven pacing and long runtime, movie succeeds in offering an tremendous experience. On a whole, Valimai ends up as a Splendid Action entertainer
Bottomline: Valimai - Impressive action thriller with a few hiccups
Note: This is my take on the movie. That is why I am not rating the movie. I respect each and every movie. Making people read my review and influencing them to form an impression on a movie before watching the movie is never my intention. I am a Movie lover too. This is just to express my view on the movie. 😊
Review by a Movie Lover