Ippadai Vellum Movie Review: A winning team work that gets clueless after a while

Udayanidhi plays an action role in this racy thriller Ippadai Vellum. Manjima Mohan of Achcham Yenbathu Madamayada plays the female lead.

Produced by Lyca Productions and directed by Gaurav, Ippadai Vellum does sound promising.

The major plus of the movie is the absence of cinematic characterisation of the protagonist. You will see the hero as a common man and how he transforms ties nicely with the screenplay.

Gaurav Narayanan’s signatures from Thoonga Nagaram and Sigaram Thodu can be sensed in this movie too.

The cast includes Soori, Radhika, Daniel Balaji, R. K. Suresh among the others.

You can see a much improved Udayanidhi in Ippadai Vellum – be it emotion, action, dance or general performance, the actor has improved a lot. And the story is so much tailored for him to suit aptly.

The plot

The movie showcases the life of middle class commoner – Madhusudhan (Udhayanidhi). Udhayanidhi and Soori are somehow linked to a local financier Ravi Mariya – they both have taken loan from him for different reasons.

Madhusudhan loses his software job and takes a loan to keep up with his financial commitments. Soori plays a dubbing artist.

Meet Daniel Balaji, a terrorist who escapes from prison and plans bomb executions across various parts of the city.

How they meet and what comes next forms the core for the screenplay. Daniel Balaji shines with what he was given in the baddie role he has played.

When situations become out of control, Madhusudhan has to take things on his shoulders and find solutions. He is someone who believes problems can be solved by being smart.

He is also backed by his beloved mother, played by Radhika, who inspires him.

So he gets on the ground and fights the baddies. He uses his smartness to tackle every obstacle in the race that follows.

Screenplay and technicals

Soori shares the screen almost throughout Udhayanidhi and is involved in quite some emotion too, apart from comedy.

The first half of the movie is pretty fast and engaging while you can experience a lag in the second half. Mainly because, an important puzzle is revealed before the interval so you don’t have much to build up expectation in the second half.

However, the screenplay is tight and racy throughout. There are some technical and logical holes that cannot be missed. But you can very well ignore them as the screenplay keeps you engaged.

Manjima does her role pretty neatly. She has ample screen time and has the chance to perform, which she does well.

Daniel Balaji gets a pretty serious (a long, one shot) intro that sets the standards pretty high for a villain. But the same gets diluted in the second half, especially in the climax.

On the technical side, the camera work by Richard Nathan has to be appreciated as he brings in the scene crisp and clear.

D. Imman’s music has always been a strength to the movies and is the same with Ippadai Vellum too. Especially, he has done a pretty neat job for Ippadai Vellum’s kind.

Downsides

Yes, there are quite some logical errors. The second half lags in raciness and tightness when compared to the first half. Had that been taken care of, Ippadai Vellum would have been a edge of the seat thriller all the way.

The romance between the couple gets a bit annoying in the second half. Moreover in the second half the movie seems to loses its path.

The director who was “in control” in the first half throws at us a mix of everything (read seriousness and comedy together) at various scenes in the second half.

The climax is a big let down, given the concrete intro scene given to the villain.

Apart from this, there are not much downsides that you can pin point. Or that can ruin the experience.

Verdict

Overall, the story is not all new. But you can so much relate to what you see on screen as the director has portrayed the challenges of a common man avoiding too many cinematic build ups.

A tight screenplay stands as a big plus to this racy thriller and the whole team has done justice to it.

If you love cat and mouse kind of thriller movies with a mix of emotions that you can relate to, go watch Ippadai Vellum. You won’t regret it.

Ippadai Vellum – A smart team work that wins AND loses at the same time.