Name: Vaa Vaathiyaar
Genre: Action, Comedy
Released: 2026-01-14
Rating: 6.0
Cast: Karthi, Sathyaraj, Raj Kiran, Krithi Shetty, Madhur Mittal

A devoted fan of the legendary actor MGR raises his grandson as the reincarnation of his idol. What will happen when the boy grows up differently, and his life clashes with the dreams and ideals his grandfather had for him?

Vaa Vaathiyaar

Times of India

In his interviews about the film, director Nalan Kumarasamy repeatedly stressed on the fact that he planned Vaa Vaathiyaar as an attempt at recreating the old-school masala film in his own style. And that's exactly what he delivers with his film. The simplicity of the MGR film formula meets the new-age-y plot device of Maaveeran in this fond, fun, funky throwback to the masala films of an earlier era.
The film does take a while to get going with the beats of the initial set-up coming across as little too familiar. The narrative rhythm, too, is slightly off, with far too many songs popping up at frequent intervals. Though, it helps that Santhosh Narayanan's songs are short and groovy. And the composer delivers a score that superbly elevates the emotional moments.
But once we get into the main conflict, things perk up. An anonymous group of hacker-activists exposes a shootout plot by power broker Periasamy (Sathyaraj) and the chief minister (Nizhalgal Ravi) at a Sterlite-like protest. The government decides to nab them before they can cause further damage to a 142 million euro business deal. How does Ramu - a corrupt cop, who is keeping up a facade of being a do-gooder for the sake of his grandfather (Rajkiran, who has become the default casting choice for such well-meaning boomer roles), a die-hard MGR fan - gets involved in this and where does the OG Vaathiyaar figures in this scheme of things?
Vaa Vaathiyaar shows that in this age of hyper-masculine action - and even romantic - films, it's still possible to make a rousing commercial entertainer with a star without relying on guns and gratuitous bloodshed. The film's action set-pieces have the hero taking on dozens of henchmen (and cops, too!), but it's all done in swashbuckling MGR style. And in Karthi, it has an actor who is brave enough to take on a risky role, given the stature in which MGR is held by the Tamil people. Rather than merely mimicking him, which would have ended up as a spoof, the actor wonderfully captures the spirit of the legend's onscreen image and creates moments that are genuinely heartfelt.
Credit should also go to Nalan for finding the right pitch at which the actor should play these portions. While there are quite a few throwbacks to iconic MGR scenes, the filmmaker even succeeds in his modern take on the iconic song, Raajavin Paarvai Raaniyin Pakkam.
The film would have been even better with a stronger villain. The film initially builds up Periyasamy to be ruthless and powerful, and with someone of Sathyaraj's calibre playing this role, we expect more only to be deceived in the end. There's also some build up to Nivas, a rival cop, who's keen on nailing Ramu, but this arc, which could have added tension, is left incomplete after a while.
That said, Nalan's bold move to call back to MGR's real-life hospitalisation and resurgence in the climax leaves the film on an emotional high.

Vaa Vaathiyaar Teaser | Karthi, Krithi Shetty | Santhosh Narayanan | Nalan Kumarasamy | Studio Green

Vaa Vaathiyaar - Trailer | Karthi, Krithi Shetty | Nalan Kumarasamy|Santhosh Narayanan| Studio Green

Karthi

Sathyaraj is an actor known for his work in Tamil films, especially in negative roles. Eventually, he emerged as one of the most popular leading actors in the industry and won several awards for his performances in films like the Baahubali series, Periyar, Nadigan, Vedham Pudhithu, Onbadhu Roobai Nottu and Nanban among others.

Sathyaraj

Raj Kiran

Krithi Shetty, known professionally as Advaitha, is an Indian actress appearing in predominantly Tamil-language films

Krithi Shetty

Madhur Mittal is an Indian actor. He is best known for his character 'Tito' in the TV serial Shaka Laka Boom Boom and his performance as Salim Malik in the film Slumdog Millionaire, which won the Academy

Madhur Mittal

Anandaraj is an Indian actor. He has acted in villain roles in several Tamil films and has appeared in over a two hundred films in different languages including Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. 

Vaa Vaathiyaar(2026)