Vinveli Payana Kurippukal review: A remarkable effort but not a wholesome entertainer

Director R Jayaprakash's Vinveli Payana Kurippukal is a remarkable attempt at trying to create something refreshingly different from the regular Tamil films that have been getting made over the decades.

The dry humour film, which seems to have been made on a shoestring budget, almost succeeds in its mission of emerging a wonderful entertainer.

The film starts off on a slow note, but begins to gain pace as the story progresses.

The entire story revolves around the protagonist, Duraipandi (Athvik Jalandhar), a hoodlum who heads a gang that extorts money from those residing in neighbouring villages.

The story begins at a time when Lady luck is smiling on Duraipandi and he is in complete control of the situation so much so that he believes he can do anything and get away with it.

What happens when a man keeps getting all that he wants? He wishes for something that is not easily attainable and that is exactly what happens in the case of Duraipandi too. The man, who takes money from villagers for the 'protection' he offers them, has a dream desire and that is to go on a trip. The problem with this simple wish is that the trip that Duraipandi wants to undertake is not to some tourist destination in India or to some exotic place in the US. It is a trip to space that the man believes will cost him approximately Rs75 crore. And the money for this trip, Duraipandi insists, will have to come from the villagers.

The villagers, who are already at their wits' end after having paid huge sums of money to Duraipandi in their desperate need for peace, are flabbergasted with this latest demand. They are not sure whether to laugh at a man who desires to go on a space tour or seriously worry about having to sponsor his trip.

It is at this point that Duraipandi calls a meeting of the different leaders of the various caste bodies in the villages. He asks each of them to pay him a sum of Rs5 crore. They try to make him see reason and even suggest that he take a trip to some country abroad but that this demand of going on a space tour is too much for them to meet.

Duraipandi, who considers himself more intelligent than the others and therefore treats them with a mild sort of contempt, mocks at their suggestion, saying, 'When those in other parts of the world have reached a stage where they are going on tours to space, you fellows still want to keep going on tours to tourist destinations in the country.'

An adamant Duraipandi announces that the villagers will have to pay him the sum that he has decreed. Left with no other alternative, they decide it is time to get rid of him. The problem is how do they do that?

A village head suggests that they poison him and also chalks out the plan for them. He tells the others about Duraipandi's only weakness — his girlfriend, who is now the wife of another man.

And so, a plan is formulated. But does it work? Does Duraipandi get killed? Or does he eventually make that space trip? Vinveli Payana Kurippukal gives you the answers.

After a long time, a Tamil film with really good dry humour has hit the screens. The humour portions, which are actually the most difficult to shoot in any film, work big time in this film for the most part. Those portions where Duraipandi tries to sell the concept of space travel to villagers by cutting a cake for Neil Armstrong are all way too funny. Equally funny is the part, where a former don tries to train his innocent and naive son to rise up to challenge Duraipandi.

Full marks to the director for having come up with a script that is refreshingly different and completely entertaining. Athvik Jalandhar, who plays the lead, does a remarkable job. He single-handedly carries the film on his shoulders.

The film has its share of problems though. The climax in particular is a little exaggerated and gives one the impression that the filmmakers wanted to finish narrating the story in a hurry. That apart, some dialogues of the film like the one where Duraipandi's girlfriend tells her husband that no man has the right to call any woman a slut, no matter what she does, are atrocious.

This apart the film is a little slow in the beginning. In fact, it is so slow that one gets the impression that one might be watching a documentary. However, all that changes as the story progresses.

On the whole, the film is a good attempt but nevertheless, falls short of being a wholesome entertainer.