One Line Review: Dhanush’s Vaathi is a South Indian version of Super 30 and still manages to score well as a commercial movie π
Vaathi Youtube Trailer
Cast: Dhanush, Samuthirakani, etc.
Release Date: February 17, 2023
Director: Venkat Atluri
Introduction
Vaathi is a movie that upholds the importance of education, and Dhanush shines all the way through as a model teacher.
“Vaathi is a film that’s mounted on no-nonsense writing though it could have been even better.”
~ Times Of India
Our rating for Vaathi is 7/10.
Summary
Set in the 1990s, Tirupathi, a private school owner introduces a scheme to save all public educational institutions. He sends teachers from private schools to government schools to ensure education there. His hideous plan was to send weak lecturers to the public education sector and thereby force the people to depend more on private schools due to the lack of quality education in the public sector.
Bala Murugan, an assistant teacher at Tirupathi’s college, is sent to a government school. Bala, who turns out to be a very intelligent and passionate teacher, starts teaching the students there and becomes their favorite, helping them all to pass the exams. An outraged Tirupathi starts planning to send Bala out of the village, and the rest of the story is about how Bala faces the rich Tirupathi and his tactics.
Review
The provision of education to everyone in an equal way is very important for the growth of our nation. Vaathi discusses this same theme. As the trailer for Vaathi looked pretty mediocre, the movie had very average expectations. Out of the blue, Vaathi turned out to be a neatly executed commercial drama where Dhanush shone both as a star and as an actor.
Originally shot in Telugu, Venkat Atluri made Vaathi with all typical Telugu masala elements inserted in the movie. Fortunately, the masala didn’t affect the content adversely. A balanced mix-up of strong content and masala elements for fans delivered a neat movie. Thankfully, decent dubbing made the movie more watchable and didn’t affect the performances.
Dhanush, as always, delivered a seamless performance as Bala. He was so convincing as a teacher who loves his students and goes to any extent to ensure a quality education for them. The songs were fresh, and G. V. Prakash delivered a decent composition that matched the narrative. Samyuktha Menon’s pairing with Dhanush was also a fresh thing for the audience. Overall, Vaathi was a well-executed film, but it still feels imperfect because the script could have been fine-tuned more.
Conclusion
Vaathi is a one-time watchable movie where Dhanush helms the movie singlehandedly.
