Vaagai Sooda Vaa (2011)

Veluthambi is an educated young man who is looking to become a teacher in a government school. Before that he is sent by the Grama Seva to work in a village for some time and educate the kids there. The particular village is one where small children are used as child laborers to lay bricks. The parents of the kids are also not aware of the ulterior motives of the proprietors. It takes Velu to put some sense into them that education is the way forward.

The kids take a lot of coaxing to finally agree to learn. They keep playing funny pranks on the teacher. There is also a young girl, Madhi who falls in love with the teacher seeing his charming and funny ways.

Towards the end, Velu becomes too attached to the village and gives up on his own ambitions and decides to live for the villagers' cause. It reminds us of Swades in a small way.

The movie doesn't preach. It just is a small attempt to aid awareness about child labor and about education being the only way forward. Nicely done.

All the kids in the movie are very natural and so is Iniya who seems to be a natural talent all the way. She is very expressive. Vimal could have done better though. A better hero could probably have lifted this movie to commercial success as well. Thambi Ramaiah and Bhagyaraj show their experience in nice little roles. Kumaravel has a very striking role as the supposed mad man and his makeover is extensive.

The soundtrack of this movie by Ghibran is delightful to say the least. The songs and the BGM are lovely. 'Porane' and 'Sara Sara' will stay with you. The way they have been picturized is an added bonus. The lyrics for the songs are poignant and very meaningful.

The camerawork is grand, the art work is intricate and makes sure that the period setting is authentic. Old songs have been tastefully woven into the narrative.

VERDICT: Honorable attempt that is not too preachy either. Good message and nicely delivered. 

Mounaguru (2011)

Karunakaran is a brooding college going youngster. He is moody and deals with things in quite a straightforward and principled way. He joins an Arts college in Chennai after he is kicked out of his first college. He lives in the hostel while his mom lives with her first son in Chennai. Karuna's family sees him as a burden. His sister-in-law's sister has a soft corner for him.

There are a series of thefts that take place in his Chennai hostel. Karuna also has run-ins with a notorious guy in college. On the other hand, the greedy AC of police gets mixed up with a murder, for money and he starts covering up the mess that he has created along with his team of cops. He gets caught on tape once and this tape goes missing. It is traced that the thief at the hostel is behind this tape theft too.

Then poor Karuna gets mixed up with these cops and he escapes death barely, is sent to the mental asylum and goes through hell. An honest pregnant cop offers some hope with her acumen and effective investigation but, Karuna can't escape that easily. The ending is quite different though the heroism in the end could have been toned down.

Hits

• The grip in the screenplay. It is tight, unwavering, engaging and very interesting. 
• Solid roles for Uma Riyaz as the pregnant cop, John Vijay as the ruthless greedy cop (his eyes are terrorizing), the helpful madman in the asylum, the other cops, the college father, the warden, the hero's mother etc.
• Iniya as the girl in love with the hero reminds us of Asin from her M.Kumaran days, both in looks and voice. Very homely girl
• Arulnidhi's height, serious looks and bland voice suit this character very well. 
• Thaman's title track and BG score are among the highlights. 

Comments

• The climax has some heroism which could have been toned down given the realistic nature of the movie
• The justification for the thefts aren't very convincing. The suspense built up behind the identity of the thief is awesome but, the moment of revelation is quite bland
• The love scenes though few, aren't needed much. 

VERDICT

A real surprise from this unheralded team. A knockout movie. One of the best of 2011. Thrill, surprise and suspense galore.