'Deverattam' Film Review: Decent performances let down by a weak script

The protagonist in Deverattam reminds you of Karthi’s character in Muthaiah’s earlier film, Komban —- in which he plays a ruffian who tries to mend his ways for his family. Right from the opening credits, we see nothing but some mindless action sequences and melody numbers that makes you to forget the actual plot. Muthaiah tries to convey a social message through an action entertainer and fails miserably.

The film begins with Vetri (Gautham Karthik) an aspiring lawyer smashing a group of youngsters, whose job is to capture nude videos of innocent girls. In the very next scene, we are introduced to his four sister and brothers-in-law, who consider Vetri as their only asset. Vetri meets Madhu (Manjima) during one of the protests in his hometown and falls in love with her. Though Vetri is a do-gooder, he has this temper that often lands him and his family in trouble. He comes across hard-hitting news that a young girl, who lives in his vicinity, has been sexually harrassed by a bunch of spoiled brats. When he learns that a gangster’s son is also involved in this crime, Vetri is left with no other option but to take up violence as a tool. The scene where he murders the gangster Ganesan’s son in public does create an impact with the audience.

However, the second half is a huge let-down, as the film adopts the template of a usual revenge-drama. The villain targets Vetri’s family and even murders one of his sisters. Will Vetri save his family members or opt to escape from the hands of the ruthless gangster?

Deverattam is yet another Tamil cinema that merely uses sexual harassment as a tool to force the audience to invest their emotions. Even the violence in the second half is so artificial and doesn’t help us empathise with the characters involved. After being criticised for his performance in Muthuramalingam (2014), which was also an action entertainer, Gautham Karthik has managed to transform into a mass hero. He delivers a performance that has all ingredients to engage the crowd. Manjima Mohan, who plays Gautham love interest, has delivered a decent performance, too. However, her character hardly has any scope to stand-out from the rest. Vinodhini’s (Gautham’s sister) characterisation does stay in the hearts of the audience even after the end credits. Overall, Deverattam is a big let down from the director who made hit films like Komban and Kutti Puli.