Movie: Sir (Vaathi)
Genre: Social Drama
Cast: Dhanush, Samyuktha Menon, Sai Kumar, Samuthirakani, Sumanth and Others
Director: Venky Atluri
Produced By: Suryadevara Naga Vamsi, Sai Soujanya
Music: G V Prakash Kumar
Cinematography: J Yuvaraj
Runtime: 136 Minutes (2hrs 16mins)
Story
Tripathi (Samuthirakani), the chairman of Tripathi Educational Institutions decides to adopt a few government colleges and send lectures to those colleges for teaching. Bala Gangadhar Tilak (Dhanush) is assigned to a college in Siripuram. After reaching Siripuram, Balu learns that no one is interested to send their children to colleges, instead they prefer to send/take them to work to earn money. Balu tells everyone about the importance of education and brings the students to college. He starts taking classes regularly and fills the spirit to study in every student. Everyone scores a good percentage in the exam and Siripuram Government college achieves a 100% pass rate. Tripathi visits the college on this occasion and Balu comes to know that Tripati is not happy about the result and what Balu is doing. Why is Tripati against Balu? What will Balu do now? This forms the rest of the story.
Artiste Performances
Dhanush steals the show. He is awesome in the role, excels in emotional scenes and gives an outstanding performance as Bala Gangadhar Tilak. He carries the whole movie on his shoulders and does an impressive job. His performance as Bala Gangadhar Tilak will be remembered for a long time.
Samyuktha is superb in her role does a great job. Samuthirakani is neat in his role and does well.
Sai Kumar is good. The students are excellent in their roles. Especially Mahalakshmi, Sathi, Padmavathi and Veeranna leave an impact.
Sumanth and Tanikella Bharani make their presence felt with their fine performance.
The rest of the cast too have done well.
Plus Points
Basic Concept
Dhanush Performance
Panchayat Scene
On Life Song Sequence
Classroom sequence about caste system
Pre-Interval to Interval Block
Exam and EAMCET Preparation sequences
Pre-Climax
Message in the movie
Drama and Emotional quotient
Dialogues
Music and Visuals
Drawbacks (Which I Felt)
A few flat scenes
Uneven pacing at times
Analysis
Sir/Vaathi has created a lot of buzz and hype with all the promotional material. Director made it clear with the trailer cut that he is going to deliver a strong message on education with a mix of commercial elements and he succeeds in doing that.
The movie starts off with Tripathi Educational Institutions adopting a few government colleges. Dhanush entrance is excellent and whistle-worthy. From the moment Dhanush is on screen, the proceedings get engaging without deviating from the story.
A scene involving Balu and his father shows the bonding between the son and father in a subtle yet impacting way. The dialogues are very well written and relatable.
Dhanush going to Siripuram, knowing that no one is interested to send their children to college is shown in a realistic way. There is a panchayat scene which is one of the highlights. Dhanush talks about the importance of education and the respect an educated person gets. This scene will surely give goosebumps to the audience.
Followed by that, One life song shows students returning to college and the whole song sequence establishes the relationship between Balu and students in a beautiful and heart warming way. It also shows how the Balu transforms the students. The audience will definitely connect to the emotions.
The director touches on some serious social issues like the caste system in education, lower-middle-class parents unable to afford private educational institutions, ineffective government school management and many more.
A classroom sequence where Balu talks about the caste system in education is hard-hitting. It is thought-provoking yet narrated in an emotional way and will put a smile on the audience's face as the scene ends.
Pre-Interval to Interval is yet another major Highlight. Director shows the sacrifices lower middle class parents make for the education of their children and the private colleges going to any extent and making business out of education is shown in an emotional and strong way that will make the audience empathize and think about the issues. The narration is excellent in this portions. When Balu challenges Tripathi, the audience will surely have an emotional high making it an amazing Interval Block.
The Second half starts off with Balu's plans being ruined by the Antagonist. The initial portions are a bit flat and predictable. The pacing too feels uneven as it feels slow for a while and racy again.
A scene where all the students help Balu after he is banished from Siripuram is heart touching. The director excellently shows the bonding between Balu and the students that will surely move the audience. The dialogues from Sathi and Veeranna will leave the audience with teary eyes.
After getting Banished, Balu finding ways to teach his students and preparing them for exams and EAMCET is narrated convincingly.
A scene where Sai Kumar's character arc turns is excellent. Director shows the support Sai Kumar gives to his daughter with a subtle yet pleasing way.
The Pre-climax yet another emotional scene. Students get their results and the whole sequence is heart warming and leave the audience with happy tears.
The climax is superb showing Balu's students in a well settled positions, Siripuram college and Balu being in a place where is belongs, with a Chekov's gun moment and movie ends on an emotional high.
Dialogues are excellent. Few dialogues in crucial scenes hit you hard and make you think. Songs and BGM by GV Prakash are an added advantage and work in favor to the movie.
Production values are great. Camerawork is top notch. The visuals take you back to the 2000s and set the mood of the movie. Editing is neat and runtime is perfect.
Director has done an excellent job in narrating a strong message with commercial elements sprinkled. He has shown his prowess in emotional scenes especially during the second half where Balu is accompanied by his students while leaving the village. Director succeeded in entertaining the audience with an engaging narrative and a Solid Message.
(MY) Final Word
Sir/Vaathi focuses on the Right to Education. Director has done a fabulous job in delivering a strong and much-needed message with commercial elements blended in the right amounts and at the right places. The concept of "Education should be offered but not sold" is brilliantly narrated without any deviations. Leaving very few flat scenes and uneven pacing here and there, Sir/Vaathi ends up as an Emotional and Engaging Social drama. A Must watch!
Bottom-line: Sir - Soulful Drama with a Strong Message!
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 of 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