Vimanam movie review: Samuthirakani starrer belongs in the ‘80s

Sentimental features like Vimanam were mostly seen during the 70’s and 80’s, with maybe a few showing up in the 90’s too. The story of Vimanam and the way it is executed feels dated and unrealistic. The cobbler talks about earning hardly a hundred bucks in a day. The auto driver mentions Rs 300 as his entire day’s earnings. All these figures don’t add up in the current scenario. At least the makers should have mentioned that the story is happening 10 years ago or so, which they didn’t.

Comparisons with the 1993 classic Matru Devo Bhava are also inevitable, looking at all the hardships, bleak circumstances, unrelenting fate and the heavy ending. But the situations in Vimanam are artificial and somehow do not succeed much in making the audience feel bad for the plight of the son and father. The scenes surrounding Koti and Sumathi characters drag down the overall impact of the film every time they come up.

There is nothing much to find fault with Samuthirakani’s acting. Due to his own dubbing in Telugu, the impact of his performance has reduced to a great extent. Master Dhruvan did well. More screen time for the child actor and delving deeper into his psyche would have helped the film. Anasuya Bharadwaj’s character has a very narrow scope and is utterly out of place in the overall design of the film. If the character played a direct role in making the kid’s dream come true, it would have been justified. Few of her dialogues, including in the concluding scene are pure cringe. Motta Rajendran tries hard to add laughter, but the circumstances are utterly garish. Meera Jasmine has nothing much to do except looking angelic during the climax.

Vimanam is such a 80’s movie that it should have stayed there. Viewers who like sentimental movies, tearjerkers might like this film. They can try it when it comes on OTT.

Vimanam movie cast: Samuthirakani, Master Dhruvan, Rahul Ramakrishna, Anasuya Bharadwaj, Dhanraj, Motta Rajendran, Meera Jasmine, Thotapalli Madhu
Vimanam movie director: Siva Prasad Yanala
Vimanam movie rating: 2 stars