Veppam - Tasty but non-crispy Chips

With the kind of expectation Joshua Sridhar had created with his songs (esp Mazhai Varum Ariguri) and Photon Kathas banner (we may mock at Gautham but his name is definitely a value add at least with respect to expectations) this movie had good basement for a hit.

But director Anjana didn't build an aesthetic building on that basement. She had just built something mundane. When it comes to Chennai gangster stories there are many benchmarks. After seeing movies like Aaranya Kaandam which was cool and at the same time high-class presentation of gangsters, Veppam was just looking ordinary.

Though there weren't any spectacular shots (which in my humble opinion is not mandatory. Camera shouldn't disturb the screenplay), it was the pleasing visuals which helped the movie get going. Good work by Cinematographer Om Prakash.

Naani has an inspiring look. He is young but at the same time doesn't have childish personality like Santhanu (S/O Bhagyaraj) or Adharva (S/O Murali). Nothing to tell about his acting skills since he didn't have scope to showcase that in this movie.

Karthik Kumar has done a decent support role again. But it is not his career-breaking role though his role had all the needed importance. His death in the movie doesn't create much impact.

Nithya Menon is another homely (and bubbly) arrival to Thamizh cinema. Her role in both 180 and this movie is quite good. If she don't take the wrong decision of doing glamor roles, she has opportunity to get good roles

Bindhu Madhavi was looking like a real call girl. Sorry to say that but that's how I felt. This itself might be an appreciation for her acting in this movie.

Amma ji role is supposed to be serious like Sorna akka (Dhool) but it didn't create any impact. Jothi character was good and so was the Bai character (though he appears in only couple of scenes). It would have not been a bad choice to have swapped Bai and Amma ji's characters.

Balaji (brother) character (done by Muthukumar) was given too much hype since the plot started but he had a low profile right from beginning to end. Gautham Menon's voice for him was not a good choice. Gautham has a unique voice and it didn't blend with actor Muthukumar's acting.

I think it was the brother character which the director didn't handle properly. If she has brought in intelligence through that character, the movie would have been another crispy gangster movie like AK. Just because she was convinced with some casual screenplay, even the taste she had added became non-significant. Even though tasty, who will prefer eating non-crispy chips?