Director Vikram is famous for his penchant to deliver message oriented movies. After a disaster in “Thalaiva” with Vijay, he redeemed himself with “Devi”.
The story of Vanamagan is nothing new and Vijay is helped by a huge budget to deliver his message of on environmental issues. Vanamagan is badly affected by sloppy screenplay and lack of depth in characterization. The characters come out unconvincing and hence the message it intends to communicate too gets lost in its silly execution. It is also ironic that an experienced filmmaker like Vijay can afford to have loose ends in the movie.
Jeyam Ravi is on “dare” mode and Vanamagan is one of his experiments. Ravi tries his bit but falls short of expectation in a weak role that has very few dialogues. Sayeesha is the trump card of the film and the only reason it might find some viewers. She is effortless in her role and works her glam in the songs. Thambi Ramaiah is in his typical “yawn” role while Prakash Raj hams and the others are just there.
Vanamagan is helped by some good cinematography by acclaimed cinematographer Tirru, music is by Harris Jeyaraj who after some loss of form has managed to create some decent output. Art direction deserves mention. Dialogues are average while direction for Vijay’s experience is bad.
Vanamagan is again one of those many movies with good intent but lousy execution
2/5
B.U.Shreesha.
