Vaathi

Vaathi (transl. Teacher) is a 2023 Indian bilingual period action drama film written and directed by Venky Atluri. The film was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Telugu with the latter version titled as Sir.^[3][4] The film star Dhanush in main lead as a School Teacher.

Vaathi
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Venky Atluri
Written by	Venky Atluri
Produced by	Suryadevara Naga Vamsi Sai Soujanya
Starring	Dhanush
Cinematography	J. Yuvaraj
Edited by	Naveen Nooli
Music by	G. V. Prakash Kumar
Production companies	Sithara Entertainments Fortune Four Cinemas Srikara Studios
Distributed by	PVP Cinema Seven Screen Studio Sony Pictures Skanda Cinemass Einstin Media
Release date	17 February 2023 (2023-02-17)
Running time	148 minutes
Country	India
Languages	Tamil Telugu
Box office	est. ₹118 crore[1][2]

Plot

Abhiram and his friends, students at an educational institute run by Srinivas (Samuthirakani), are preparing for the engineering entrance examination. They come across an old box of cassette tapes containing mathematics classes with a receipt accompanying it in the name of Kumar from Sozhavaram, dating back to 2000. After inquiry, they discover that Kumar is the district magistrate of Kadapa, and later Kumar discloses that the man in the video is Balamurugan 'Bala' (Dhanush).

The plot moves back to 1993, when many private institutions sprang up and the government was finding it difficult to sustain interest in public institutions. Five years later, with government colleges shutting down due to a shortage of lecturers, the poor who cannot afford private institutions are left with little access to higher education. Srinivas, the president of the private colleges association, hatches a plan to adopt all the government colleges and send junior lecturers to those colleges, while obtaining support from the government to stop the regularization of fees by the government. Bala is one such lecturer, who is sent to a government junior college in Sozhavaram to teach mathematics. Bala finds that the college is lacking in attendance and due to this the college may be shut down soon.

Bala organizes a meeting with all the villagers and their children and explains the necessity of education, thus making the children and parents realize its importance. The students then start to come back to classes with Balu handling additional classes and engaging an ex-student, Muthu, to teach as well. Meanwhile, Balu falls in love with Meenakshi (Samyuktha), the biology teacher at the institution. Bala notices caste differences among students and comes up with a ploy to eliminate it. The board exams take place, with all the students passing in the first class. Srinivas tries to lure Bala away with a lucrative job offer to stop students from moving back to government institutions rather than private institutions. Bala refuses, and Srinivas acts via the education minister to take back the positions offered to lecturers at government junior colleges and recruit new ones, leaving Bala without a job.

Later, Bala takes private classes in an open field in the village, prompting outbursts from Thirupathi, who instigates the villagers to drive him away from the village. Bala fights back, but is arrested and tortured in custody. He is dropped back into the village soon afterward, where the villagers are asked not to help him, indicating that he misused government funds. Bala's ex-students help him get back to his hometown, where he becomes dependent on his father, Narayanan (Naren), who works as a driver. After recovering, he takes up tutoring at his home on the insistence of Ansari, his former teacher, after many failed job interviews at private junior colleges. Meenakshi arrives and decides to marry him. They see a young boy who is willing to study but is unable to do so due to poverty. His father is constantly pressuring him to earn money.

Bala gets an idea and records his lectures using cassette tapes and sends them to Bhupathi (Abhiram's grandfather), a photographer in Sozhavaram. Bhupathi runs special shows for students at 6 p.m. every day in the nearby theater, where Bala's lectures are played. To clear doubts and interact with students, Bala visits the village, under the guise of a drama artist, each Sunday. Thirupathi tries to stop the students on the day of the exam. Bala fights them off and the students perform well, clearing the exams with Muthu scoring the first rank and revealing himself as Kumar. Thirupathi offers money to all the students, promising them sponsorship for their further studies on the condition that they endorse his institution. Bala asks the students to agree to it and asks them to help needy students in the future after they climb the socio-economic ladder.

In the present Kumar continues his story, saying that the theater where they studied is now a coaching center for the underprivileged, developed by the old students, who take turns teaching each year. While Kumar does not know the current whereabouts of Bala, it is shown that a still living Bala and Meenakshi have opened a school, Ansari School of Knowledge, to provide free education for the underprivileged at Ooty.

In an alternate ending, Abhi and his friends also achieved ranks within the Top 100 in the JEE Mains, with Abhi securing the first rank, guided by Kumar, the old students, and Bala's recorded tapes. At their felicitation ceremony, despite being coerced by Thirupathi, Abhi credits Bala for his achievement. In addition, he unveils Bala's tapes publicly, thus exposing Thirupathi.

Cast

• Dhanush as Balarasan 'Bala' (Tamil Version)/Bala Gangadhar Thilak 'Balu'(Telugu Version)
• Samyuktha as Meenakshi
• Samuthirakani as Srinivas Tirupathi (Tamil Version)/Srinivas Tripathi (Telugu Version)
• Tanikella Bharani as Thanigachalam (Tamil Version)/Deekshitulu (Telugu Version)
• P. Sai Kumar as Muthu Pandian (Tamil Version)/Papa Rao (Telugu Version)
• Rajendran as Bhupathi (Tamil Version)/Bhushanam (Telugu Version)
• Narra Srinivas as Sudarshan
• Pammi Sai as Subbayya
• Aadukalam Naren as Narayanan, Bala's father
• Hareesh Peradi as Ansari, Bala's teacher
• Ilavarasu as Education minister
• Thotapalli Madhu as Narayana Swamy
• Hyper Aadi as Karthik
• Sha Ra as Prakash
• Sumanth as Muthu/Kumar (Tamil Version)/Murthy (Telugu Version)
  • Ken Karunas as young Muthu/Murthy
• Praveena as Bala's mother
• Naga Mahesh as Inspector Suresh
• Kalpalatha as Meenakshi's mother
• Sathvik Varma as Abhi
• Bharathiraja as a villager (cameo)

Production

Development

In late July 2021, it was reported that Dhanush would collaborate with Venky Atluri for the latter's next directional before his project with Sekhar Kammula; the film marks Dhanush foraying into Telugu cinema for the first time. Sithara Entertainments were reported to fund the project.^[5] On 22 December, the company made a public announcement,^[6] confirming the project, while the title Vaathi and Sir was announced the day after. Atluri had recruited music composer G. V. Prakash Kumar, cinematographer Dinesh Krishnan and editor Navin Nooli.^[7] Samyuktha was announced as the lead actress the same day.^[8]

Filming

Principal photography began on 5 January 2022.^[9] The second schedule of the shoot began in April 2022 when Dhanush had joined the sets after he had finished the shoot of Naane Varuvean. The filming was completed in October 2022.^[10][11]

Music

Vaathi
Soundtrack album by G. V. Prakash Kumar
Released	4 February 2023 (2023-02-04)
Recorded	2022
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	Tamil version: 20:18 Telugu version: 20:35
Language	Tamil Telugu
Label	Aditya Music
G. V. Prakash Kumar chronology
Sardar (2022) Vaathi (2023) Rudhran (2023)

The music of the film is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar. The first single titled "Vaa Vaathi" in Tamil and "Mastaaru Mastaaru" in Telugu was released on 10 November 2022.^[12][13] The second single titled "Naadodi Mannan" in Tamil and "Banjara" in Telugu was released on 17 January 2023.^[14][15]

Tamil

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Vaa Vaathi"	Dhanush	Shweta Mohan	3:48
2.	"Naadodi Mannan"	Yugabharathi	Anthony Daasan	3:23
3.	"Kalangudhe"	Yugabharathi	Vijay Yesudas	3:28
4.	"One Life"	Dhanush, Arivu	Stephen Zechariah, Arivu	2:47
5.	"Sooriya Paarvaigaley"	Yugabharathi	Tippu, Ravi G	2:54
6.	"Vaa Vaathi (Reprise)"	Dhanush	Dhanush	3:48
Total length:				20:18

Telugu

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Mastaaru Mastaaru"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Shweta Mohan	3:48
2.	"Banjara"	Suddala Ashok Teja	Anurag Kulkarni	3:32
3.	"Maaraajayya"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Kaala Bhairava	3:28
4.	"One Life"	Pranav Chaganty	Hemachandra, Pranav Chaganty	3:03
5.	"Sandhya Na Udayiddaam"	Pranav Chaganty	Anurag Kulkarni	2:55
6.	"Mastaaru Mastaaru (Reprise)"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Dhanush	3:48
Total length:				20:35

Release

Theatrical

The film was scheduled for a theatrical release on 2 December 2022 in Tamil and Telugu, but was postponed.^[16][17] In November 2022, it was announced that the film will release on 17 February 2023.^[18] It was announced that Seven Screen Studio has acquired the distribution rights of the film in Tamil Nadu.^{[citation needed]}

Home media

Initially, there were reports suggesting that the film's streaming rights were acquired by Aha, but were later acquired by Netflix, while the satellite rights were sold to Sun TV Network.^[19] It began streaming on Netflix from 17 March 2023 in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.^[20]

Reception

Vaathi received mixed reviews from critics.^[2]

Logesh Balachandran of The Times of India rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Vaathi is a film that's mounted on no-nonsense writing though it could have been even better".^[21] Latha Srinivasan of India Today rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and said that the film has a "noble mission" but Venky Atluri's story and narration are a big let-down.^[22] Avinash Ramachandran of The New Indian Express rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Despite using a 140-minute runtime to teach us a bunch of subjects, but the film teaches us are "Films don't have to be preachy to drive home a point" and "Dhanush can make anything look easy".^[23] Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and termed the film as Dhanush starrer about right to education fares poorly.^[24] Bharathy Singaravel of The News Minute rated the film 1 out of 5 stars and wrote "A film of such mediocrity and confused politics".^[25]

Notes

References

1. Marik, Priyam (21 March 2023). "Dhanush-starrer Vaathi/Sir topped box office in February, the weakest month since Jan 2022: Ormax report". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
2. "Dhanush's 'Vaathi' makes Rs 118 crore at the box office in one month". The Times of India. 18 March 2023. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
3. "Dhanush's bilingual film titled 'Vaathi' in Tamil, 'Sir' in Telugu". Telangana Today. 23 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
4. "Title of Dhanush's upcoming Tamil-Telugu bilingual film is out". The News Minute. 23 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
5. "Dhanush to do a Tamil-Telugu bilingual before Sekhar Kammula movie". The Times of India. 28 July 2021. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
6. "Dhanush confirms Tamil-Telugu bilingual with Venky Atluri". The Times of India. 22 December 2021. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
7. "Dhanush's film with Venky Atluri titled Vaathi". The Times of India. 23 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
8. "Samyuktha Menon roped in as the leading lady in Dhanush's 'Vaathi'". The Times of India. 23 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
9. "Dhanush, Samyuktha Menon's bilingual film 'Vaathi' to start rolling from January 5, see Pooja pics". The Times of India. 3 January 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
10. "Dhanush begins shooting for Vaathi". The Times of India. 7 January 2022. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
11. "Dhanush's Tamil-Telugu bilingual starts rolling". The News Minute. 7 January 2022. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
12. "'Vaa Vaathi': The first single composed by GV Prakash from Dhanush's 'Vaathi' is here". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
13. "'Mastaaru Mastaaru': First single from Dhanush, Samyuktha Menon's 'SIR' out". The Times of India. 10 November 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
14. "Nadodi Mannan, the second single from Dhanush's Vaathi is here". Cinema Express. 17 January 2023. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
15. "Banjara: Second single from Dhanush's Telugu-Tamil bilingual 'SIR' is out now". The Times of India. 17 January 2023. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
16. "Dhanush's Vaathi to release in theatres on December 2. See new poster". India Today. 19 September 2022. Archived from the original on 19 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
17. "Dhanush starrer Telugu-Tamil bilingual Sir to release in December". Bollywood Hungama. 19 September 2022. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
18. "GV Prakash unveils new posters of Dhanush's Vaathi". The Indian Express. 17 November 2022. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
19. "Netflix to stream 18 new Tamil films in 2023 in its attempt to serve regional language cinema fans". The Economic Times. 17 January 2023. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
20. "Official! Dhanush's 'Vaathi' to stream on OTT from THIS date". The Times of India. 12 March 2023. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
21. "Vaathi Movie Review : Dhanush scores high along with his students in this tale of empowerment". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
22. "Vaathi Movie Review: Dhanush is the only saving grace of this Venky Atluri film". India Today. 17 February 2023. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
23. "'Vaathi' movie review: A wonderful Dhanush anchors a promising tale bogged down by cliches and deja vu". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
24. "Vaathi movie review: Dhanush starrer about right to education fares poorly". The Indian Express. 17 February 2023. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
25. "Vaathi review: Bad script, bad politics let down Dhanush starrer on education rights". The News Minute. 17 February 2023. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.

External links

• Vaathi at IMDb