Udhayanidhi Stalin has teamed up with Thoonganagaram and Sigaram Thodu fame Gaurav Narayanan for Ippadai Vellum, produced by Lyca Productions. The film has hit the screens today, and now let us see how the movie is, through this review.
Madhusudhanan (Udhayanidhi Stalin) and Kuzhandai Vel (Soori) fall prey in the Police mission of trapping a most wanted terrorist Chotta (Daniel Balaji). How do they unknowingly fall into this, and how do the duo come out of this safely is what 'Ippadai Vellum' talks about.
Udhayanidhi Stalin is improving as a performer, and he has delivered a decent performance with his share of subtleness. Thankfully, Soori has a little more scope to act, than his previous films. Also, his comedies work well in Ippadai Vellum. The bubbly and cute Manjima Mohan gets a role that travels throughout the movie and performs well. Daniel Balaji looks terrifying as the terrorist, who bombs important cities in the country. We've seen him as a baddie in many other films, and this one is no less for him. RK Suresh's character could have been more effective as a police officer with negative shades. Radhika Sarathkumar has less screen space, gets only one scene to showcase her acting skills, and she registers her experience.
As told earlier, Daniel Balaji is terrifying, thanks to the opening build-up shot for him, which is very impressive. When the villain’s standard is set high, the audience would naturally expect a strong and intense climax. But that is the problem with Ippadai Vellum. The climax is a letdown as it looks very normal. A section of an audience might feel that the film ended on a blunt note. However, a smart amount of work has gone through the writing process, as we are made to witness few exciting things, like the email conversations, etc.
The director can be appreciated for not placing any songs as a speed breaker. The duet song comes within the first thirty minutes, and after that, the film travels on the dotted lines, without any deviations. The dialogue-driven situational humours also work in favour of the film, and during some of the most serious situations, the film takes the comedy route, and that helps to an extent. These unexpected humour elements would be interesting for the general audience, who go with no expectation. Sadly, there are a few logical issues at places, and it lacks clarity in the screenplay.
Richard M Nathan’s visuals are very notable and attractive. Special applauds for shooting two different sides in a parallel manner, like the one where Police track down Udhay and Soori, and the scene where both Udhay’s team and Daniel Balaji’s team come out of their apartment. D.Imman’s theme number Ippadai Vellum helps the mood of the film, but on the whole, the score looks average. It could've been more intensifying. Praveen KL's editing is apt suiting the film's mood.
Gaurav’s writing is good, but the execution lacks more force and impact for the core knot, as the film deals with a serious subject about a terrorist. The audience doesn't get that terrifying feel at all, anywhere in the film, and it looks like that is where the makers could've worked more on.
