BOTTOM LINE
Honest, Flawed Execution
OUR RATING
2.25/5
CENSOR
U/A, 2h 2m
What Is the Film About?
Veerayya (Samuthirakhani) is a differently-abled father who is a single parent of a young boy Raju (Master Dhruvan). The boy is very fond of flights and wants to take one. But an unexpected event triggers a storm in their lives. The rest of the story is all about how Veerayya struggles to realize the dream of Raju.
Performances
Vimanam has got a good cast with many notable faces – Samuthirakhani, Anasuya, Rahul Ramakrishna, Dhanraj, and Motta Rajendran. Samuthirakhani plays a dotted father who faces many challenges in his life. But he sports a smile always and lives to give a better life to his son. As the movie nears the interval, Samuthirakhani is expected to shoulder the film with his performance but it is a mixed bag for the senior actor. In some emotional sequences, we expect the protagonist to be a bit loud to stir the necessary emotions. There are 2-3 such blocks in the movie but the actor chose to underplay. We do not know if that is a call from the director but that’s disappointing. The underplaying emotional performance, however, worked nicely in some portions in the second half.
Anasuya plays a prostitute in the film. It is a role that oozes glamour and adds sentimental touch towards the end of that track. Anasuya fits the glam role like no one can. Her body language is something that we traditionally associate with the role of a prostitute in Telugu cinema but the slang does not fit. It is more like that type of dialogues rendered in a normal way. But she should be appreciated for playing the role without any inhibitions.
Analysis
Vimanam is a slice-of-life drama of a differently-abled father who runs a Paid Toilet and his son who dreams to fly on an airplane one day. While an incident makes their life topsy-turvy, the father takes a determined mission to fulfill the child’s dream whatever it takes.
Films like this have a wafer-thin story but they need to be backed by a good cast, excellent performances, superb writing, and heart-rending emotions. Vimanam has an honest intention to narrate an emotional tale. The casting is packed with known faces which adds to the beauty of the film.
Not always see someone like Samuthirakhani cleaning Toilets or someone like Anasuya playing a prostitute. The sincerity is here.
The director needs to get his writing right and also extract good performances from his cast. We already discussed the issue with Samuthirakhani’s performance.
Coming to the writing, the first complaint is he takes too much time initially to introduce the conflict. It happens just before the interval. The lead to the actual story is neat. But the repetitiveness in the first half an hour or so bores.
The second half is all about the father’s pursuit to fulfill his son’s dream. We see challenges thrown all the way. The audience is expected to connect to the agony and feel the father’s turmoil. But that does not happen for the most part. The problem here is most scenes are in the zone of predictability and familiarity.
There are parts that work but they are sandwiched between scenes that are shallow due to ordinary writing like the Joker sequence, Sulabh Complex demolition, and accident sequence. The intent is there but the impact is not present. The emotional depth is lacking and mostly it scratches only the surface. The climax again is a shocker but the shock value is debatable due to the predictability. Anasuya track is mostly used for comedy. The Photography track works evoking some laughs and the rest is more about using the glamour. The closure also feels forced and predictable.
Finally, is a film with good intentions and sincerity in its making, but it fails to fully immerse the audience in the struggle. Despite a familiar story, effective writing could induce emotional depth but that is not the case.
Performances by Others Actors
Master Dhruvan who played a pivotal role in the movie impresses big time with his act and ease. Rahul Ramakrishna is good as always in a tailor-made role. Dhanraj does what is expected of him in the role of an auto driver. The remaining characters do a decent job in whatever they are offered.
Music and Other Departments?
Siva Prasad Yanala has written and directed the film. The issues with the writing are elaborated in the Analysis part. He has some very good resources at his disposal but he could have utilized them further. That is again the problem with writing and maybe also in setting the right targets in the performances. Charan Arjun came up with a Good background score in some key sequences. At times, the BGM even dominated the proceedings. There are a couple of situational songs that blend nicely. Some dialogues (by Hanu Ravuri) in the second half are impressive. Vivek Kalepu’s camera work is adequate to the scale of the film. The production design is neat. The film, however, may need some trimming in the initial portions.
Highlights?
Honest Intention
Good Casting
Few emotional moments in the second half
Drawbacks?
Wafer-thin Story
Familiarity & Predictability
Underplay in some important scenes.
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, partly
Will You Recommend It?
Yes but with some reservations
Vimanam Movie Review by M9News
