Hyderabad: Jiva's erstwhile venture Rangam had tasted a success, his latest movie Vachadu Gelichadu, dubbed version of Tamil movie Vanthaan Vendran, is quite a disappointment. Vachadu Gelichadu is not a bad film; also it is not a good film.
The plot of the movie is how Arjun (Jiva) comes to Mumbai and achieves his goal. It is completely an action drama with sentimental touch. This certainly falls into typical Tamil flick's category. Almost the whole movie runs in the background of Mumbai mafia.
It once again focuses on the nexus between mafia and Mumbai police. Ramana (Nandu) leaves his home during childhood follwoing a mischievous prank with his younger brother and comes to Mumbai. There he turns into being a don.
Arjun (Jiva) travels to Mumbai to meet Ramana. Arjun desperately tries to meet the Don to narrate his love story with Anjana (Taapsee). There is a strong unknown connection between Arjun and Ramana.
Arjun turns out to be Ramana's younger brother and once the relation is known and the reason why Arjun is in Mumbai is revealed to him, the confrontation begins. Arjun plays a series of political games and carries out some sting operations against Ramana's businesses.
The Police department turns up the heat on Ramana and he is forced to run. A livid Ramana seeks to kill Arjun for revenge. The twists are quite unexpected and especially the twist before the climax is truly and completely stunning. There is no way of guessing that. Jiva does a good job as Arjun and his histrionics are classy. Taapsee has shows some skin and looks good on screen.
Nandha walks away with the honours in the acting department. His performance as a powerful Don Ramana is quite a treat to watch. He is intense and focused, but shows subtle hints of vulnerability where required. Anjana Anjana is a beautiful duet that has been captured well on screen.
The first half goes smoothly with some nice comedy and good screenplay. Santhanam's comedy in particular is very effective. Cinematography is an asset to the film. The locales are captured very well and the movie is a visual treat.
Thaman's background score is pretty good but songs are not up to the mark. Thaman also appeared in a song as drummer. Fights and songs were choreographed well. Now some bad things about the movie. The story line is wafer thin. The second half is a major drag and tests the patience of the audience.
Songs keep intruding at important junctures to spoil the flow of story. Though the twist at the end is very good, the way it is integrated into the story leaves a lot to be desired. Taapsee needs to improve her acting performance. Especially in scenes that require anger and emotion, Taapsee's immaturity is quite visible.
Editing is not up to the mark and is quite choppy. Screenplay takes a big hit in the second half. That is a major disadvantage for the film. A tighter screenplay would have worked wonders for the film.
The hype that is introduced in the first half is wasted due to poor screenplay and too many songs in the second half. It seems the movie loses the plot. Also few scenes have missed logic.
The twist in climax is good, but it has not been integrated well into the story. Vachadu Gelichadu may not survive at the box office.
