Varisu Review: Vijay and family emotions make this a passable watch

Cast- Vijay, Sarathkumar, Rashmika Mandanna, Jayasudha, Shaam, Srikanth, Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Yogi Babu, Sangeetha, Ganesh Venkatraman and SJ Suryah

Director- Vamshi Paidipally

Music director- SS Thaman

Synopsis: A business tycoon needs to decide on his heir apparent while his enterprise, family integrity and health are failing simultaneously. Who among his three sons will put family and business back on track?

Varisu, directed by Vamshi Paidipally that stars Vijay in the lead role is one of the first big releases of 2023 and a lot of hope were pinned on the film in terms of theatrical collection. Vijay's looks from the film and characterisations intrigued his fans and the audience ahead of the film's release on Wednesday. Going by the trailer, it was obvious that Vijay (also Vijay in the film) plays the son of a business magnate in the film and will help his father resurrect his empire. Apart from that the buzz that did the rounds was, Varisu has a lot of Telugu flavour to it as it is Vamshi's first Tamil directorial. Before we delve into other aspects, we clarify that Varisu is a proper Tamil film and does not have huge Telugu impact in it. Kudos to Vamshi on that. What else does the movie have for Vijay's fans and the audience?

We are introduced to Rajendran (Sarathkumar), who runs a leading business empire and has three sons. He even runs his family in a proper business model and pits his three sons Jai (Srikanth) the eldest, Ajay ( Shaam), the middle son and Vijay (Vijay), a Harvard graduate against each other so that Rajendran could select his heir apparent. While Jai and Ajay try and even compete against one another to get into their father's good books, Vijay is a happy-go-lucky chap, who sets out on biking adventures and wants to set up his own firm much against his father'a will and ends up being an outcast.

He visits his folks after being away for seven years. Vijay learns that his father is in his last days and decides to be by his side. Meanwhile, in a few twists and turns, the true colours of his brothers are exposed and Vijay takes over the business. From the time Varisu begins till here, we have been given four songs but that do not slow the pace of the screenplay. Though all these are predictable, the dialogues are fresh and help the course of the film. Vijay and Yogi Babu's comedy scenes do a world of good along with family emotions. The pre-interval and interval scenes are Varisu's biggest plus.

Vamshi maintains the tempo in the beginning of the second half. A few minutes later, he goes back to family sentiments and deviates further which works against the film's favour. To add to it another song in the second half slows down the film. Rashmika Mandanna's role in Varisu is unjustified and graces the screen only during Ranjithame and Jimikki Ponnu. Jayasudha as a mother to Vijay plays a much stronger role. Sarathkumar is outstanding as Rajendran and was Vamshi's perfect choice to play the role. He slips effortlessly into any character offered to him. Thanks to his charisma.

Varisu's CG portions and the melodramatic second half are its biggest drawbacks. Over 20 minutes of deviated screenplay could have been avoided. Also Vamshi's handling of Vijay is yet another topic to be discussed about. When you have an actor or a star of Vijay's calibre, the climax should have been more crisp. Vijay's aura is underplayed with unneeded comical mannerisms, especially at this point in time of his career, which was unwarranted for. All said and done, Varisu is another commercial potboiler that reminisces us of some of Vamshi's previous works and is a decent one-time watch. The movie's biggest plus is it's family emotions in the first half, which is also its minus in the second.