Thiru’s Vetadu Ventadu (2013) Movie Review

Starring:  Vishal, Trisha, J D Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpayee, Sunaina, Jayaprakash, John Vijay, Sampath
Director:  Thiru
Music Director:  Yuvan Shankar Raja
Duration:  138 Minutes
Genre: Romance | Thriller
Watched at Sri Mayuri 70mm, Hyderabad

Director Thiru who made Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai (మన తెలుగు లో ఖిలాడీ) with Vishal in the lead decided to work with him for the 2nd time as well. వెట్టాడు వెంటాడు movie about, Shankar (Vishal) a forest trekking guide who gets into fight (వనం కోసం ప్రాణం లెక్క చేయని మనస్తత్వం) and have an introduction song in the beginning (పాట లో ప్రాణం విశాల్ లో ఆకతాయి తనం రెండు మిస్ అయ్యాయి) of the movie. His lover (Sunaina) dumps him (అల్లాంటి కారణాల్ల తో కూడా విదిపోతర అనిపిస్తుంది) and goes to Bangkok and after about 3 months, he gets a courier from her with a ticket to Bangkok to meet her (ఫ్రీ గ వస్తే మనవాళ్ళు ఏదీ వదిలారు అన్ని). He visits Bangkok and there happens a series of things, which confuses Vishal and he gets into a trap unknowingly (పాపల కోసం వెళితే పొరపాటులు పట్లు తప్పవు మరి). How he wriggles out of it forms the rest of the movie.

Vishal is adequate in the main role (ప్రాణం లేని పెర్ఫార్మెన్స్ ఆదరకొట్టాడు). His characterization should have been written in energetic way. Trisha is average in her role. Sunaina played the role of Shankar’s first love. She is promising with her looks & performance wise she is ok. Most of the characters in Vetaadu Ventaadu come in two shades. Either they’re too good or they’re too bad. The villains (JD Chakravarthy – Manoj Bajpai) seem to be desperate to announce to the public at the earliest that they’re indeed bad. They behave like maniacs living on winning and Betting and talking rubbish, which give clues to the audience on their behavioral pattern and almost all of them in the bad guys department eventually, end up as mere jokers in the end. John vijay, Sampath, Jayaprakash are supportive.

Stories of such premise need arresting screenplay and engrossing narration. The script is half-baked. The characterizations should be more compassionate. There is no appeal to the characterizations and there is no sympathy left to the leads in the end. And when audiences don’t travel with the characters in the movie, they will feel quite left out about it. That’s how Vetaadu Ventaadu lacks the punch that is expected from a thriller. The music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is a major let down and cinematography is good Esp. shots of Bangkok and Ooty. The placement of songs should have been better. Dialogues are average. Production values are good.

First half of the film is adequate and second half is boring. Plus points of the movie are cinematography, few scenes and locations. Negative points are screenplay, thrills and uninspiring direction. The film would have been a rocking entertainer if the director and the scriptwriter had stuck to the Inspirations (The Game, Dot The I) with minor changes.