'Vellai Illa Pattadhaari' was a fairly popular film that had neat closure to its story-line, a decent concoction of family sentiment and mass moments. So, when a direct sequel was announced, it had to bring forth something fresh to the plate. Sadly, what we get is mostly a (more expensive-looking) rehash of the first film with a few role-reversals and additions that don't really leave an impression.
Raghuvaran (Dhanush) is now an Executive Engineer for Anitha Constructions and bags the attention of Vasundhara (Kajol returning to Tamil cinema after a long gap) Chairperson of the biggest construction company in South India, who extends him a job offer; one he refuses. Taking offense to this, Vasundhara unleashes a load of professional (and personal) vendetta on Raghuvaran. Speaking of role-reversals, this is pretty all what the movie has to offer in terms of novelty.
Vasundhara is portrayed as a strong corporate villain (a sharp contrast from the 'Amul Baby' in the first flick), Shalini (Amala Paul) has shed her homely-girl-next-door image to turn into a nagging wife (Raghuvaran's "drunk" episodes with her are badly written and acted), the earlier-conflicting dad (Samuthirakani) has now embraced an inspiring, composed persona. The character palette is complete with comic relief provided by Azhagusundaram (Vivek, whose "GF" saga left us in splits), maternal warmth from Raghuvaran's mom (Saranya Ponvannan, who still manages to win hearts over), Raghuvaran's brother Karthik (Hrishikesh) and their adorable pet dog, Harry Potter.
Kajol's character is written in such a manner that she is supposed to appear strong-willed (only on paper) but she is in fact a childish caricature who drops the F-bomb on a lot of occasions, and is offended even by polite rejections to the point of making life hell for the person who did so. This story does not really function well when set in a professional / corporate world where things are not as explicitly off-putting as you see here (but the writer/director is forced to spoon-feed to cater to the masses). The Raghuvaran- Vasundhara segments are punctuated by too much slow-motion and underwhelming background score (by Sean Roldan, a far-cry from the massy Anirudh compositions).
The scenes at home are literally the most boring (unlike the first film which mostly centered around the household) with the family members not having much to contribute apart from 'timely inspiration'. I did find the action-free climax refreshing and Dhanush's dialogues (both writing and delivery) elevate these scenes pretty well. But Vasundhara's sudden change of heart comes across as unconvincing and bland.
Punch dialogues? Check. Slow-motion walks? Check. Comic relief? Check. Fights? Check. Crisp run-time? Check. Still, the movie mostly feels like an unexciting masala fare.
Verdict: Below-average!
Raghuvaran (Dhanush) is now an Executive Engineer for Anitha Constructions and bags the attention of Vasundhara (Kajol returning to Tamil cinema after a long gap) Chairperson of the biggest construction company in South India, who extends him a job offer; one he refuses. Taking offense to this, Vasundhara unleashes a load of professional (and personal) vendetta on Raghuvaran. Speaking of role-reversals, this is pretty all what the movie has to offer in terms of novelty.
Vasundhara is portrayed as a strong corporate villain (a sharp contrast from the 'Amul Baby' in the first flick), Shalini (Amala Paul) has shed her homely-girl-next-door image to turn into a nagging wife (Raghuvaran's "drunk" episodes with her are badly written and acted), the earlier-conflicting dad (Samuthirakani) has now embraced an inspiring, composed persona. The character palette is complete with comic relief provided by Azhagusundaram (Vivek, whose "GF" saga left us in splits), maternal warmth from Raghuvaran's mom (Saranya Ponvannan, who still manages to win hearts over), Raghuvaran's brother Karthik (Hrishikesh) and their adorable pet dog, Harry Potter.
Kajol's character is written in such a manner that she is supposed to appear strong-willed (only on paper) but she is in fact a childish caricature who drops the F-bomb on a lot of occasions, and is offended even by polite rejections to the point of making life hell for the person who did so. This story does not really function well when set in a professional / corporate world where things are not as explicitly off-putting as you see here (but the writer/director is forced to spoon-feed to cater to the masses). The Raghuvaran- Vasundhara segments are punctuated by too much slow-motion and underwhelming background score (by Sean Roldan, a far-cry from the massy Anirudh compositions).
The scenes at home are literally the most boring (unlike the first film which mostly centered around the household) with the family members not having much to contribute apart from 'timely inspiration'. I did find the action-free climax refreshing and Dhanush's dialogues (both writing and delivery) elevate these scenes pretty well. But Vasundhara's sudden change of heart comes across as unconvincing and bland.
Punch dialogues? Check. Slow-motion walks? Check. Comic relief? Check. Fights? Check. Crisp run-time? Check. Still, the movie mostly feels like an unexciting masala fare.
Verdict: Below-average!