'Vidaamuyarchi' Movie Review: A Solid Marriage Story Stuck In A Middling Action Flick

Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Writer: Magizh Thirumeni
Cast: Ajith Kumar, Trisha, Arjun Sarja, Regina Cassandra, Aarav
Language: Tamil

There are lovely additions Magizh Thirumeni makes to Breakdown (1997) to humanise what was otherwise a straightforward Hollywood action movie. This begins right with the way he re-interprets the title ‘Breakdown’. Not only does this mean that Magizh’s version begins way before Arjun’s (Ajith Kumar) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere as he travels with his wife to Tbilisi, but the title also alludes to the ‘breakdown’ they are experiencing in their marriage. It's middle of the road in a sense, but the not the kind you're thinking about. 

They’ve been together for 12 years and they’ve lost the magic that had once brought them together. In another awkward meet-cute that we’ve now come to expect from Magizh Thirumeni, we’re told that Arjun once sent “Happy Birthday” messages every day to Kayal (Trisha) for six consecutive months. But after 12 years, Arjun doesn’t even remember the date anymore, even when the world stays up to wish Kayal.

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It’s an angle that makes Vidaamuyarchi a more complex film, one that’s richer than its source text. This richness is reflected in Om Prakash’s visuals too. When we cut back to happier times, Arjun and Kayal are seen in cooler, lighter colours, as we see them seated close to some form of a water body. They could be on a yacht or next to a swimming pool, but when we cut to present, we see them in the middle of a desert, with the dryness turning into a symbol of the love that has gone missing. Not only does the contrast work subconsciously to show us how things once were, but it’s also befitting for a film about two fish out of water. 

There are other additions too that make Vidaamuyarchi behave more like a strange relationship drama. In the original, the bad guy is a part of an all-male team of kidnappers that is only after money. But over here, the film takes a detour when you add a character like that of Deepika’s (Regina Cassandra), a partner-in-crime to Rakshith (Arjun), the main antagonist. Practically, it makes sense to add Deepika to the mix because it’s unlikely than an Indian woman would otherwise get into a truck driven by a stranger, that too in the middle of nowhere. But Deepika’s addition, strangely, also makes Vidaamuyarchi a film about two couples. In what you could call a deviant cousin to a film like O Kadhal Kanmani, we see one couple learning stuff about marriage after the intervention of another couple. And so, we get two perfectly decent people stuck in an unhappy marriage, and two psychopaths madly in love in a match made in hell.

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The film remains a serviceable star vehicle, but not because its hero saves the day multiple times. It goes deeper into the idea of marriage and explores shades you’d seldom expect in a such a big-budget outing. This includes an angle that suggests that Kayal may be having an affair. But the film is careful enough to treat Kayal with dignity, even when it deals with such a topic. As another character points out, Arjun may have fallen out of love but he’s not the kind of man to ever slut-shame his wife, even if she were to have an affair. The fact that the film doesn’t have to spell out the details of this affair, makes it even more worthy of respect. In a sense, the resilience in the title works better when you think of it as the story of a husband fighting to protect his marriage, as much as it is about saving his wife. 

Where the film falters, however, is when the emotions run dry and transform fully into action mode. This is the angle in Breakdown that made the film special, including a chilling third act that seldom needed dialogues. In Vidaamuyarchi, the last hour feels simply like a series of disjointed action blocks, set in different places. The film loses the specificity of its geography and instead, we’re simply pushed from one warehouse to another, just as an excuse to stage another fight. 

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The bad guys lose their specificity too. In the first hour, the film builds up an entire sub-plot with Deepika manipulating both Arjun and Kayal into believing they were both actively working against each other. It’s another interesting idea that questions the notion of how well one knows their spouse. But this is not explored enough to confuse either Arjun or Kayal, or to make it harder for them to get to each other. What could have been a great idea for the kind of villains we seldom see in our films, quickly turns into another opportunity lost.

And with the rest of Vidaamuyarchi relying on the strength of its action scenes alone, we feel lost and distanced, without the film trying to find cleverer ways to challenge its protagonist. When the action scenes work — like in a stretch involving Ajith and three bad guys stuck inside the same car — there is still some fun to be had. But when they are not backed by the writing, they feel lifeless, even when supported by Anirudh's heavy score. 

In a sense, what we feel with Vidaamuyarchi is akin to what Arjun and Kayal felt in their marriage. What begins with a fascinating setup about a lost couple having to find their way back into love, soon gets sidelined into a generic action movie. At its best, the film attempts the dynamics of a Roja or even NH10, but just like its lead couple, the love we feel for the movie goes missing somewhere along the way.