Vinnai thaandi Varuvaayaa - விண்ணைத்தாண்டி வருவாயா

Watched this movie over the weekend in spite of everyone telling us that it is a long and slow movie with two characters talking to each other for the most part of the movie.

The middle aged folks said "should be a great movie for twenty somethings and teens". The teen's we know who saw the movie said "who has this kind of notion of romance these days?". The romantics said "only hopeless romantics will like this movie" and the hopeless romantic in me initially said "maybe this is not my type of movie".

True, the movie was long and drawn out and the last twenty minutes was brilliant and made up for the first two plus hours of slow buildup, but it kind of grows on you. You come home and the imagery stays in your head for a long time.

The "first love is unforgettable" theme is a universal one and will touch a chord with almost anyone, especially if your first love is not your last love. That said, the concept of "getting over a lost love and move on" is equally universal. All those cliches of "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved" and "love happens, you cannot go searching for it" etc. etc. are all rolled into one single movie.

A couple of things were plain revelations in this movie.

First is the acting, especially by Silambarasan and Trisha. Really do not understand all the negativity that surrounds Silambarasan with the blog reviews and comments. If anyone is going to take Kamalahasan's place in the Tamizh film industry another decade from now, it will be Simbu.

He can emote really well, sing, write lyrics, dance hip hop and jazz like nobody's business and definitely has screen presence. He is able to do subdued, as well as he does "over the top".

The dance choreography and the cinematography were simply amazing. Very nicely done. ARR was fantastic, not just with the songs but with the background score as well.

Do not know the exact demographic that will come out and like the movie, but count me in.

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