Namma Veettu Pillai
With the last two films bombing in the boxoffice (Seema Raja and Mr.Local), Sivakarthikeyan is in trouble and is banking big on his mentor Pandiraj (his first film as lead was directed by Pandiraj – Marina) for a hit. Pandiraj is back after the success of Kadaikutty Singam which was heavy on family sentiments. From the look of the promo’s (Sun TV banner), Namma Veettu Pillai definitely looks like Kadaikutty Singam part 2 with double the number of relatives and focussed on brother-sister relationship. Will he be able to repeat the success ?
Namma Veettu Pillai Movie Review
The films starts with an interesting character introduction by the eldest in the family Arulmozhi (Bharathiraja). If I start talking about the characters and their relationship, it will take a day to complete this review. So let’s get straight to the crux of the film.
Sivakarthikeyan plays the role of Arumpon, another “happy go lucky” character without much work. Arumpon (Sivakarthikeyan) and Thulasi (Aishwarya Rajesh) are closely bonded as brother and sister. However, Thulasi is not his real sister and born to his father’s close friend (flashback portions). Arumpon’s only aim is to get her married to a good man and a good family, however things don’t go as planned. They have lot of complications from the family members and also a villain (Adukalam Naren and Natraj), who is waiting to avenge Arumpon for the petitions filed against their illegal activities.
Director Pandiraj is back with another rural (modern) family subject with lot of sentiments (not just brother-sister). The hangover from KadaikuttySingam looms over this one to a large extent. But the village milieu here is different, modern and interesting. The characters speak English normally, the families have whatsapp groups, the marriages are held in grand convention halls with helicams and the costumes are grand. Thankfully, there is no scenes preaching about agriculture and organic farming.
The films works to a large extent because of the script and the screen presence of Sivakarthikeyan. Though he has struggled a bit in the sentimental portions (dialogue delivery largely), he still manages to hold his fort. He is more convincing in the action, comedy and romance portions. Aishwarya fits the bill perfectly, thought the character is very cliché. Out of the others long list of other actors, Bharathiraja and Natraj (Natty) have good roles and they have performed well. The comedy between Sivakarthikeyan and Soori does not create the old magic. There are few good jokes, I especially liked the Kutty Payan character who talks in between always.
On the negatives, the films drags towards the climax. Long sentimental portions which again seem to be very similar to Kadaikutty Singam bores you. However, it can go well with a section of family audience. A bit of trimming would have anyways helped. The romance between the lead pair was a let-down (too much of expectations from a wannabe collector). The action sequences could have been better. Technically the film is good. Imman’s catchy songs are shot well and BGM, very apt for this genre. A big strength for the film is Nirav Shah’s camera. The entire film is very colourful. Editing could have been better in the second half.
Overall, Namma Veettu Pillai is another long sentimental family drama from Director Pandiraj with an engaging script and good performance. The sentimental scenes may go well with some section of the audience but could end up as a drag / repetitive for others, especially towards the climax. Nevertheless, this is a comeback for Sivakarthikeyan.
Rating – 2.75/5
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