Valimai - An action treat for the fans
'Valimai', definitely the most-hyped film in Ajith Kumar's career, comes as an answer to all the fans' prayers. It is nearly 3 years since we witnessed Ajith Kumar's charismatic presence on the big screens. The fans were desperately longing for the updates for more than 900 days and finally, the day where their wait comes to an end is here. Also, the film carried a lot of inception as Ajith was teaming up with the talented director H Vinoth for this intense action thriller. The result of all these expectations is to be addressed here.
Valimai revolves around ACP Arjun Kumar (Ajith), a righteous police officer, who sets out on a mission to hunt down an outlaw biker gang named 'Satan Slaves' following their involvement in heinous crimes such as theft, murder and drug trafficking. While facing off the gang's leader (Kartikeya), Arjun's efforts go in vain when he finds out that his family is directly affected by the baddies. Arjun, whose mental balance is broken to pieces, decides to hit back at the criminals, who wronged him, with all he got. Whether Arjun was able to defeat the evils and save his family and society forms the rest of the story.
Ajith Kumar as Arjun has dedicated his body and soul to give his fullest to satisfy his fans, who waited all this time. The star has risked performing breath-taking stunt sequences without a stunt double. Kartikeya has tried his best to give us a powerful villain opposite a superstar actor with an arresting screen presence. Huma Qureshi has played the sidekick role, Sofia, neatly with a decent performance from the rest of the cast.
H Vinoth has tried to take the complete mainstream way this time but loses the rhythm midway. While the maker has explored an issue that is new to Kollywood, the film falls short with old-school, sluggish writing. The screenplay fails to keep us connected to the movie for 180 minutes. Though Vinoth manages to impress with his well-researched details and some nicely penned action episodes, the latter half of the film grows uninteresting at certain places.
Nirav Shah's camera work is impeccable and on the other hand, the editor could have put more effort to prevent the movie from falling flat in the latter half. Both the songs and background score feel not up to the mark and is easily forgettable. One of the highlights of the movie is phenomenal stunt choreography by Dhilip Subbarayan, who has worked hard to present us with jaw-dropping action scenes. At a point, it feels like Ajith Kumar's performance and the extravagant stunt scenes are the only saving grace of the film.
On the whole, Valimai is a watchable action thriller that works in parts. H Vinoth's writing is a letdown and the maker should try to bounce back to his roots in the future. Ajith Kumar's calm and fabulous screen presence, exhilarating action sequences and amazing visuals with an interesting concept make 'Valimai' a decent watch for the audience.
