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Zee Studios and Bayview Projects LLP’s Valimai (dubbed from the Tamil film of the same name; UA) is an action film about an honest police officer’s fight against the invincible drug mafia.
Police office Arjun (Ajith Kumar) comes from Madurai to Madras and is put in charge of weeding out the drug mafia but the problem is so deep-rooted that it seems impossible to understand the mafia’s modus operandi. The mafia is also into chain-snatching and murders and is being run by a large team of deadly bikers who operate under the name of Satan’s Slaves and use the internet to connect. How Arjun and his team exposes the mafia lord, Naren (Kartikeya Gummakonda), forms the crux of the drama.
H. Vinoth has written a story which is not very new as one has seen many dramas about the drug mafia. The novel part about this story is the technical part of the gang of bikers but it is so technical that it becomes difficult for the average viewer to comprehend what’s going on, initially, at least. H. Vinoth’s screenplay is interesting as it has several twists and turns and intertwines a family drama into the action drama. In fact, the family drama is more interesting than the action drama although this is predominantly an action fare. One twist in the screenplay (not being specified here), just before the interval, is particularly superb and comes as a shock to the audience. However, the angle of Arjun’s mother going on a hunger strike looks contrived if only because it looks as if she is adding to the tension of the family which is already going through hell. Besides, the emotions which should be aroused because of her hunger strike fail to be aroused. So, no real purpose is served by the hunger strike! The screenplay is also too long-drawn, and one reason for this is that the action scenes are extremely lengthy. The film lacks in romance, comedy and emotions. Dialogues are so-so.
Ajith Kumar is neither young nor in great shape but still looks charming and acts well. He is good in action scenes and performs well otherwise too. Huma Qureshi does well as Sophia. Kartikeya Gummakonda is quite good as Naren. Raj Ayyappa does a fair job as Arjun’s younger brother but he gets limited scope, which makes his actions appear less justified. Dinesh Prabhakar is excellent as police officer Sashan. Selva (as police officer Vijay Kumar) is terrific. Sumithra (as Arjun’s mother) lends very fine support. Dhruvan (as Amith) makes his presence felt. Vaishnavi Chaitanya has her moments as Arjun’s sister. Pearle Maaney (as Cristina) and Chaitra Reddy (as Latha) lend fantastic support. Gurbani Judge (or Bani as Sara) is adequate. G.M. Sundar leaves a mark as Sarkar. Pavel Navageethan (as Selva), Ajith Nambiyar (as Sasi), Achyutha Kumar (as Arjun’s drunkard brother) and Pugazh (as Success Balu) provide good support.
H. Vinoth’s direction is fair. He has catered to the South audiences but the pan-India youth would not find the masala in the film to their liking. There are no songs in the Hindi version, and that’s a minus point. Ghibran’s background music is very nice. Nirav Shah and Ilya Boyko’s cinematography is fantastic. Action scenes have been wonderfully choreographed by Dilip Subbarayan and Sergey Golovkin, but the youngsters among the Hindi film-going audience will find the action and stunt scenes over-the-top. The flying motorbike scenes are not only too lengthy but are also, literally and figuratively, over-the-top as they are often so high in the air! K. Kathir’s art direction is of a good standard. Vijay Velukutty’s editing is loose. The film could’ve done with a far shorter length; it should’ve been of maybe at least 20-25 minutes’ lesser duration. Dubbing is good.
On the whole, Valimai is too ordinary to make a mark at the Hindi box-office.
Released on 24-2-’22 at Galaxy (2 shows; in daily 4 shows from 25-2-’22) and other cinemas of Bombay by Zee Studios. Publicity: so-so. Opening: ordinary. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark at most of the places. The original Tamil version opened to excellent houses in Tamil Nadu.