Vegam Malayalam Movie

Feature Film | 2014
Critics:
Audience:
At a little less than 110 minutes of runtime, Vegam is a small movie. Yes, small indeed. Small in plot, smaller in story, smallest in execution, and diminutive in creative quality. As the name exhorts, the quicker we wrap up our business here, the better!
Jul 17, 2014 By Shaji Francis


It seems the makers were inspired by the success of low-profile and wafer-thin-plot movies like Neram. They might have thought they can replicate closer success if not better, by following the same execution style, by lining up similar characters, and by copying the simplicity of plot. As a result, we have the Protagonist and his close friend who must make lots of money in a very short span of time, to save their lives and also to earn their fortune. They choose to steal a bagful of gold ornaments from a family that has just finished their jewellery shopping for its daughter's marriage. There's another racketeer gang after the same loot, which is also the threat to the protagonist and his friend's lives, and they go pitted against each other. What follows is the crux of the story.



Simplicity works very well when it has its soul in place. Otherwise, it would become a futile exercise, all the more exaggerated, with a series of trivialized and moronic outgoings. May be in an attempt to improve or augment the emotional content that movies like Neram had, Vegam added a few situations and characters in good intent, which not only failed to deliver but also marred the (so-called) thriller quotient of the movie. By the time the movie reaches its core part in the latter half, the viewer becomes so emotionally detached that he would want the title of the movie actually applied at once! The literal running for life and honor in the final act is so poorly executed that one feels sympathy for the parties involved. Background score of course yells to tell us that it's all very serious business happening on-screen, but it only reminds us of the old adage "Empty vessels make the loudest noise"!


Music by Govind Menon of the reputed Thaikkudam Bridge band deserves a special mention of praise. It's unfortunate that the platform where it performed turned out to be so substandard. While there's nothing else praiseworthy in the movie, amongst the under-performers, Vineet Kumar's dubbing skills stand tall. He must work on his vocal abilities if he plans to dub for himself in the future.


No one might expect bigger results from Vegam for the moderate stature of its creative team. The point of disappointment is that there was no spark of creative grandeur seen anywhere in its runtime of just-under 110 minutes. That brings us back to the smaller runtime of the movie, which is perhaps its only saving grace.


Shaji Francis

   

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