Vaazha: Biopic of a Billion Boys

Name: Vaazha: Biopic of a Billion Boys
Director: Anand Menen
Genre: Coming-of-Age
Released: 2024-08-15
Rating: 2.5
Cast: Siju Sunny, Joemon Jyothir, Basil Joseph, Jagadish, Azees Nedumangad

Directed by Anand Menen

TezScore50/100 Mixed Early coverage · 2 scored of 3 Indian-media reviews How TezScore works

125 min 15 Aug 2024

Wikipedia IMDb

Synopsis

Vaazha: Biopic of a Billion Boys

In a quiet town in Kerala, five teenage boys—Ajo, Vishnu, Moosa, Vivek, and Kalam—grow up constantly being told they're failures. Growing Up Under Pressure is a coming-of-age drama that follows a group of friends as they navigate the challenging transition from adolescence to adulthood. The film explores their struggles with societal and familial expectations to pursue traditional career paths like engineering or medicine, while grappling with their own dreams and uncertainties. Labeled as "underachievers" in their 20s, they face societal stigma and familial disappointment, which adds to their internal conflicts. As the story unfolds, the focus shifts from achieving conventional success to embracing self-acceptance and finding their own paths in life. At its heart, the film delves into the complex relationships between fathers and sons, portraying emotional conflicts, generational gaps, and the eventual journey toward mutual understanding and reconciliation. Rather than offering a neatly wrapped conclusion, the film presents a realistic portrayal of growing up under pressure, emphasizing personal growth and the messy, beautiful complexities of adulthood.

Director: Anand Menen
Release: 15 Aug 2024
Run time: 125 min
Language: Malayalam

Cast & crew

SI Siju Sunny Cast JO Joemon Jyothir Cast

Basil Joseph Cast

Jagadish Cast

Azees Nedumangad Cast

Kottayam Nazeer Cast NO Noby Marcose Cast SM Sminu Sijo Cast AM Amith Mohan Rajeshwari Vishnu Radhakrishnan AN Anshid Anu Vivek Anand AN Anuraj O. B. Abdul Kalam SA Saaf B GI Gibin Gopinath Vivek's father AR Arunsol Kalam's father ME Meenakshi Unnikrishnan Maya SR Sruthi Manikandan Daisy PR Priya Sreejith Vishwam's mother GO Gouri Sankar Astrologer AN Anand Menen Director VI Vipin Das Writer, Producer HA Harris Desom Producer P. P. B. Anish Producer AD Adarsh Narayan Producer RA Rajat Prakash Composer NO Nomadic Voice Composer RA Rakz Radiant Composer PA Parvatish Pradeep Composer EL Electronic Kili Composer JA Jay Stellar Composer A A Team Composer AR Aravind Puthussery Cinematographer KA Kannan Mohan Editor

Reviews

Indian-media reviews, grouped by reception.

Critics' consensus

Mixed

Wikipedia-cited reviews for Vaazha: Biopic of a Billion Boys are mixed overall across 3 collected excerpts. The numeric critic average from cited scores is 50/100. Positive excerpts point to direction, writing.

Synthesized by AI from 3 source-backed reviews — verify against the linked sources.

Common praise

direction
writing

Best forViewers looking for coming-of-age and comedy in Malayalam cinema.

Reception Order

All 3 reviews shown

Thenewsminute Ajay U. K.

★★★★★ ★★★★★ 2.0

K. of The News Minute rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote: "Instead of attempting to call out the toxicity among male friendships, Anand Menen’s ‘Vaazha’ takes the reductionist approach of 'boys will be boys' and settles itself into locker-room talk."

Read at source

The Hindu Saraswathy Nagarajan

Saraswathy Nagarajan of The Hindu said that "some smart one-liner — some crude, some crackling — bring on the laughs" and wrote: "What works for this movie most is the relatability factor; director Anand Menen ensures that the narrative does not become maudlin, although the second half has plenty of scenes where it could have turned into a typical tear-jerker."

Read at source

The New Indian Express Vignesh Madhu

★★★★★ ★★★★★ 3.0

Vignesh Madhu of The New Indian Express rated the film 3 out of 5 and wrote: "The film works thanks largely to the smart casting choices and its effective emotional turn in the latter half."

Read at source