Vaathi Movie Review: Dhanush starrer packs a powerful emotional punch and a strong message!

Dhanush starrer Vaathi has now hit the theatres. The movie is directed by Telugu director Venky Atluri and it features Samyuktha, P Saikumar, Tanikella Bharani, Samuthirakani, Aadukalam Naren, and Rajendran among others in key roles. The movie has music from GV Prakash, cinematography from J Yuvaraj, and editing from Naveen Nooli.

Plot

The movie centers around an assistant math teacher named Bala (Dhanush) who works in an educational institute run by Thirupathi (Samuthirakani). Thirupathi is someone who treats education as a business and he has privatized the education system.

After the state government issued a new bill that forces private schools to take over government-funded schools, Thirupathi sends third-grade assistant teachers to teach in a government school in a remote village. Bala who happens to be one of the three teachers tries to bring change with his teaching methods but he faces quite some challenges. Seeing that students neglect school as those from the lowest economic background have to support their parents to make a living, Bala tries his best to convince the parents about the importance of education. Just when he has managed to do so he faces other problems now. Will he be able to bring a change and fight the privatized education system? This makes the whole crux of the movie.

What works?

Dhanush is great in his role. The scenes in which he comes up with creative ideas to teach the student are enjoyable. The movie has powerful dialogues and it delivers a powerful message without being too preachy. Samyuktha Menon who plays the female lead has also done her part decently. Director Venky has also done a great job of not deviating from the core plot by focusing too much on romance. The music from GV Prakash adds value to the movie and is help set the mood for quite the scenes. Other than that, the movie packs a huge emotional punch and the students have done a great job to help create such an impact.

What doesn’t work?

Often time we can see Venky’s direction looks movie like a Telugu movie which might not be what the Tamil audience might have expected. The writer could have avoided a few dull comedy scenes from the first half as they failed the make the viewers laugh. The role of Thorupathi lacks a bit of impact and the conflict between the bad and good starts a bit too early in the movie.

Overall

Vaathi

Vaathi is a good movie but it could have been better had the makers focused on some key things. However, overall, the movie delivers a powerful message which hits the core and it also packs a powerful emotional punch to keep the viewers engaged.