'Valimai' Review: Ajith Kumar's Action Thriller Is a Decent Ride

Watch our review of Ajith Kumar's action thriller 'Valimai'.

Soundarya Athimuthu reviews Ajith Kumar-starrer Valimai.

(Photos Courtesy: The Quint; YouTube)

In the last 2 years, if there was one universal question that actor Ajith’s fans have been asking across cricket stadiums to Twitter spaces, it was “When will we get the Valimai update?” Somehow, they thought it was not just producer Boney Kapoor and team that was answerable for Valimai's release but the whole universe.

But anyways, the most anticipated action thriller, actor Ajith’s Valimai is directed by H Vinoth, who is known for his previous hits like Sadhuranga Vettai and Dheeran Adhigaram Ondru, and this is the quick first impression of the movie.

First up, I’m not here to give out the spoilers, but Tamil cinema already did! Yes, because Valimai falls under the typical Tamil movie template of, “Every character in the movie builds up for the hero’s entry and then, the hero jumps from a flying car or a rooftop and then the villain is introduced and now there's a lot of running, chasing , fighting, firing. Not forgetting to sprinkle some family sentiment preferably mother sentiment and again running, chasing, fighting, firing”.

The family sentiment is a little overdone but still Valimai has certainly customised this template with some innovative elements like the Satan Slave concept where it talks about unemployed graduates being involved in crime activities and there is bike racing.

Talking about bike racing, the bike chasing scenes are very difficult in general. The way they have staged and shot these high-octane stunts is just sheer brilliance. There are plenty of moments that make you feel like - how did they even capture it on camera like this, let alone “How did they do it”. So extra marks for good handwriting. But what about the answer? Teacher doesn't give marks for handwriting alone.

There is some casual hypocrisy. For instance, Ajith snubs a guy, basically a goon who blames his poverty after his dad’s death for not continuing his education. But then he doesn’t say much when his privileged little brother cribs about his unemployment while he is clearly provided with good education and financial cushion at home.

So, my final review of Valimai is that... ok think of this, you are very very hungry, waiting to eat some nice chicken biryani, you walk into a fancy restaurant. There is a dish called ice cake biriyani. You order it because it's a cool name and now you are served with leftover rice from the previous night soaked in water with onions and chillies. Not that it is not good, it is healthy and tasty but not something that would satiate my killing hunger.

So, my rating for Valimai is 2.5. I really wish I want to say “Valimai was one hell of a ride,” but no, it was just a decent ride”.