Five aimless youngsters who bear the load of their parents’ ambition on their frail shoulders! An oft told tale of angst, anger and anguish. But what redeems Vaazha, ’the biopic of a billion boys’, is the humour woven in all the scenes in the first half of the film and the relatability factor in the second half. Smart one-liners — some crude, some crackling — bring on the laughs.
Ajo Thomas, Vishnu, Moosa, Abdul Kalam and Vivek Anand are five thick friends who can’t seem to crack examinations, and the travails of the backbenchers strike a chord with many viewers. The five buddies come from middle-class families, as the film tracks their lives from pre-school to college and beyond. But for Moosa, whose father stands by him through thick and thin, the other young men have to deal with parents who have no time to listen to their woes or even let them follow their dreams.
Vaazha means plantain tree in Malayalam; it is also a take on a popular grim adage in Malayalam that says that instead of spending money on a good-for-nothing kid, it would have been better to plant a plantain tree instead! Film director Vipin Das of Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey and Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil is the writer of the movie, which is directed by Anand Menen who made his debut with Gauthamante Radham. The Reels-like feel of the film is enhanced by crisp scenes that depict the youngsters’ encounters with unsympathetic, unimaginative teachers in school and college. There is action, fisticuffs and.