There’s a reason why Murugesan (Pasupathy) is a drifter and more importantly, a loner, in Manoj Night Shyamalan’s parlance – to save his brother! Vasanthabalan’s intermittently bloody Veyil really doesn’t deserve the plaudits it’s been garnering. It pretends to portray a loser’s life under the pretext of some terribly commercial situations, with mere flashes of brilliance in Kadhir’s (Bharath) character and vocation – a small town ad. agency. Debutant composer GV Prakash does live up to his lineage and delivers the goods wonderfully. But, the overall package is a complete potboiler with an overdose of melodrama that even a usually subtle performer like Pasupathy is forced to overact. The surprise element is Bharath who continues to win brownie points as the most natural small town guy on Tamil screen – he has been doing it so well recently. But, more than all these trivial misgivings, I’ve a massive grouse with the basic theme – how dare the director even assume that Murugesan’s life was unsuccessful? If he has lived peacefully in that theater for 20 years doing what he enjoys best, it would have been a very fulfilling 20 prime years that many of us can only dream of! Veyil pretends and disappoints.
Keywords: Shankar, Bharath, Bhavana, Pasupathy, Veyyil
Note: 200 words not ‘cos the film deserves it. But, ‘cos I couldn’t express my grouse in 100 words!
