Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven review: Sundar C and Simbu present a lazily made no-brainer

Filmmaker Sundar C and Simbu, who are currently not in their best form, join hands for the first time in Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven (VRV), the Tamil remake of Pawan Kalyan’s Telugu blockbuster Attarintiki Daredi (2013), and what we get is a film that’s neither good nor bad. VRV is at best an average no-brainer, and it works largely due to Simbu’s screen presence and some decent comedy stretches, courtesy Robo Shankar and Yogi Babu.

A frame-to-frame remake of the original, VRV revolves around Aadhi (Simbu) and how he fulfills his grandfather’s promise ahead of his 80th birthday. Raghunandan (Nasser), a multimillionaire, wants his daughter Nandini (Ramya Krishnan) to come back to him. Two decades ago, she married Prabhu against her father’s wishes and due to which is forced to part ways with her family. How Aadhi (Simbu) tries to reunite them forms the crux of the story.

Attarintiki Daredi is one of Trivikram’s weakest films and it worked solely due to the Pawan Kalyan factor. When the remake was announced, it didn’t quite create a sensation as the original itself wasn’t really a great film. Nevertheless, when it was learnt that Sundar C would helm the remake, there was hope that the output will be at least entertaining. Unfortunately, VRV is neither a Sundar C film nor one that belongs to Simbu.

Sundar and his team seem to have taken no effort whatsoever to make VRV even slightly more appealing than the original. Not only did they copy it frame for frame, they even recreated the same sets to some scenes. If not for the comedy and the battalion of popular comedians, sitting through the film would’ve been an ordeal.

Scenes featuring Robo Shankar and Yogi Babu, who makes an entrance quite late in the film, are an absolute treat to watch. They hold the film together and make this no-brainer a decent watch.

Simbu, last seen in Mani Ratnam’s Chekka Chivantha Vaanam last year, returns to playing a character that can’t be stopped from showering self praise. Dialogues have been exclusively written to address several of the controversies he’s been involved in his real life over the years. He looks bloated, and struggles to dance, which has been his strength for many years.

The leading ladies, Megha Akash and Catherine Tresa, have pretty much nothing to do other than look glamorous on screen.

Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven is the least entertaining film from Sundar C and it leaves one wondering why it was even made in the first place.