Vaitheeswaran Tamil Movie
'Vaitheeswaran' marks Vidyadaran's directorial debut. He has made the debatable theory of rebirth as the veneer to narrate a story of an individual fighting against a powerful politician. Care has been taken not to defy logic by cleverly juxtaposing astrology and human endeavor. This is Sarathkumar's first movie after he started his own political party.
To raise money for his election, politician Dhanasekharan (Sayaji Shinde) commits a robbery in a temple. A small boy, Saravanan, who sees this, is killed by Dhanasekharan. In this situation, Mani Sankaran (Vijayakumar), a practitioner of "Nadi Jothidam" (a branch of astrology using ancient palm leaf manuscripts) in the Vaitheeswaran temple, comes to Saravanan's mother and affirms that her murdered son, Saravanan, would be reborn and come back to liquidate Dhanasekharan before the latter becomes the chief minister. To make this happen, the astrologer advises her to offer worship in a Siva temple like doing a penance. The mother does as she is told.
Thirty years later, Dr. Bala (Sarathkumar), a psychiatrist, appears on the scene. Trouble trails him when he wants to help his police friend Riaz Khan and his girlfriend (Suja), who are working to get at Dhanasekharan for committing a murder. The two incur the wrath of Dhanasekharan and become his victims. Dr. Bala takes upon himself the mission of exposing the vile politician. Dr. Bala's girlfriend is Rupa (Meghna Naidu) working for a private TV channel. The turn of events bring both Dr Bala and Dhanasekharan to the village where Saravanan's mother has been worshipping Siva for 30 years and waiting for the day of her son's return after rebirth.
The rest of the story is on predictable lines.
The sequences are so structured that they hold the attention of the audience. Scenes of Riaz Khan making an entry and where he is thought of as Dr.Bala who was Saravanan in the previous birth are well executed. Riaz Khan is killed by the rowdies and with this the suspense mounts. The question remains as to whether Dr. Bala is the dead Saravanan.
Sarathkumar's characterization of the lead role is brilliant. He brings out the traits of the character with understanding. He strikes a chord in emotional scenes. He measures up to his image as an actor of caliber. The role does not call for much heroism.
Pairing with him is glam girl Meghna Naidu. She is in her elements throughout. The duet song on the beaches of Goa is really hot.
Sayaji Shinde as villain-politician has nothing new to offer.
Manobala as Sayaji's assistant provides diversion with his jokes. The others in the cast are just 'side dishes'.
There is nothing special in Srikanth Deva's music. His background score is pleasant.
Cinematographers Saravanan and Panneerselvam deserve a good rating.
It needs to be pointed out that while giving the impression of reaffirming faith in the theory of rebirth, the director leaves the audience in confusion by the garbled message that for the believers the man is Saravanan and for those who have no faith in this theory, he is Dr. Bala.
Too many twists and turns in the second half of the film serve only to reduce the impact. There is also an overdose of suspense and tension. The characters of psychiatrists and astrologers in weird costumes have by now become clichéd. The film leaves nothing to imagination.
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