Vaanam Kottattum movie review: Vikram Prabhu, Aishwarya Rajesh's drama is a feel-good, family-friendly film

Language: Tamil _Vaanam Kottattum_ is a feel-good family-friendly film from director Dhana who has co-written it along with noted director Mani Ratnam. And when you have a big brand like Mani Ratnam, who has produced it under his home banner Madras Talkies , the expectations are huge. It can be called a multi-starrer with an ensemble star cast of Vikram Prabhu, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Aishwarya Rajesh, Madonna Sebastin and the trusted veterans Sarathkumar and Radikaa Sarathkumar in pivotal roles. And it is also the launchpad for singer Sid Sriram as a music director. (Also Read: Vikram Prabhu, Aishwarya, Shanthanu, Madonna, Sarathkumar, and Radhika talk about Vaanam Kottattum ) [caption id=“attachment_8015981” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Still from Vaanam Kottattum. Image from Twitter[/caption] Like all Mani Ratnam films Vaanam Kottatum (Let it rain) has a catchy title and has the director’s style and touch in its story and packaging. You are reminded of a lot of earlier Ratnam movies, though Dhana has brought in his own flavour into the romance and emotions in this family drama. Dhana says the thread of the film is based on real-life characters from his home town in Theni who was into banana cultivation. Technically the film is slick with good camera work by the lady cinematographer Preetha Jayaraman. The film begins in a remote village somewhere near Theni. Bose (Sarath Kumar), an upright banana farmer is irked that his enemies had tried to kill his brother (Balaji Sakthivel) and in a fit of rage murders two of his rivals and goes to jail. Bose’s wife Chandra (Radikaa Sarathkumar) does not want her children to grow up in the village and decides to go to Chennai. The son Selva (Vikram Prabhu) grows up into a budding banana dealer at Chennai’s biggest wholesale market at Koyambedu, while the daughter Mangai (Aishwarya Rajesh) is a law student. The romantic subplots have Selva getting drawn towards Preetha, a rich girl with a lot of problems and Mangai has for company, her childhood sweetheart (Shanthanu), while another ‘friend’ (Amitash) has a soft-corner on her. After many years, Bose completes his jail term and as a free man rejoins his family. The children are not too happy about his coming back and his ways. And suddenly out of the blue Bhaskar (Nandha) a man seeking revenge for the murder of his father spoils the family reunion. Vaanam Kotattum is like an overcast sky with rains refusing to break out. It moves at such a leisurely pace, that the 124 minutes film feels too long and stretched. The first half has the best moments, like the camaraderie between brother and sister, bickering with their mother, humorous relationship with their uncle and their separate love tracks. The second half the focus shifts and the climax looks contrived with a convenient brooding villain thrown in just for the sake of it. Among the cast, the senior stars Radikaa and Sharat Kumar are apt and has done a neat job along with Balaji Sakthivel. Among the youngsters, Vikram Prabhu impresses with his acting and body language the most along with Aishwarya Rajesh and their brother-sister bonding is the highlight. The song placements are perfect and the music of singer turned musician Sid Sriram is hummable. Each song is different and Sid himself has sung most of them with ‘Kannu Thangam’ being the pick of the lot. In the end, Vaanam Kottatum is a decent family film that has its moments, though far and few and is more of a drizzle than the skies opening up. Rating: ***