Anusha Sundar of OTTplay gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Vaazhai is a delightful deviation that Mari Selvaraj took after making his previous films.Read at source
Vaazhai 2024 
Favourable
Favourable Film · 2024 · Tamil · Family
Vaazhai
TezScore78/100 Favourable reception Generally Positive How TezScore works
136 min 23 Aug 2024
Synopsis
Vaazhai
In mid-1998, in the village of Karungulam, southern Tamil Nadu, the primary occupation is harvesting raw banana bunches and transporting them to lorries, for which a meager payment of ₹1 (equivalent to ₹5.00 or 5.2¢ US in 2023) per bunch is made. Sivanaindhan and Sekar are two adolescent friends. Sivanaindhan has a crush on his social science teacher, Poongodi, and even swears a false oath when caught with her lost handkerchief. Despite being a bright student, Sivanaindhan is forced to lug banana bunches during weekends due to poverty. He and Sekar, fearing the labour-intensive work, sought excuses to avoid it. However, Sivanaindhan's mother insists he works to repay the advance credit she had received, pledging her son's labour. Vembu, Sivanaindhan's elder sister, is in love with Kani, a socialistic thinker who, along with a few villagers, demands a hike of ₹1 (equivalent to ₹5.00 or 5.2¢ US in 2023) extra per bunch through their village broker, Muthuraj. The trader reluctantly agrees to avoid a work stoppage.
- Director
- Mari Selvaraj
- Release
- 23 Aug 2024
- Run time
- 136 min
- Language
- Tamil
Reviews
Indian-media reviews, grouped by reception.
Critics' consensus
Generally Positive
Wikipedia-cited reviews for Vaazhai are generally positive overall across 7 collected excerpts. The numeric critic average from cited scores is 78/100. Positive excerpts point to performances, direction, writing.
Synthesized by AI from 7 source-backed reviews — verify against the linked sources.Common praise
- performances
- direction
- writing
Best forViewers looking for family and drama in Tamil cinema.
All 7 reviews shown
Avinash Ramachandran of The Indian Express gave 4/5 stars and wrote, "It tells the reason why some people are more purposeful than others.Read at source
Writing for the Deccan Herald, Guruprasad D N rated the film 4/5 praising Mari Selvaraj's direction and the performances of the lead actors, particularly Ponvel.Read at source
Haricharan Pudipeddi of The South First gave 4/5 stars and wrote, "Vaazhai, which is easily Mari Selvaraj's best work, is a piece of art and there are no second thoughts about it".Read at source
Latha Srinivasan in her review for Hindustan Times praised the direction of Mari Selvaraj writing, "Writer and director Mari Selvaraj's repertoire of work is so haunting that every film of is a piece of art that transcends the silverscreen.Read at source
Janani K of India Today gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Director Mari Selvaraj, on several occasions, called Vaazhai his best film.Read at source
In his review for The Hindu, Bhuvanesh Chandar praised the film as a masterpiece writing, "Everything in Mari's world of Vaazhai is meticulously-crafted from life", and felt Ponvel gave a "performance worthy of national glory".Read at source
Details
Technical specs
- Release date
- 23 Aug 2024
- Run time
- 136 min
- Language
- Tamil
- Country
- IN
- Director
- Mari Selvaraj
More like this
Karnan 2021 
Karnan Same director · 9 Apr 2021 Nooru Saami 2026 
Favourable
Nooru Saami Family in Tamil · 2026 Favourable Tourist Family 2025 
Favourable
Tourist Family Family in Tamil · 1 May 2025 Favourable Jagame Thandhiram 2020 
Jagame Thandhiram Shared cast and genre · 2020 Bottle Radha 2025 
Bottle Radha Family in Tamil · 24 Jan 2025 Anjaamai 2024 
Anjaamai Drama in Tamil · 7 Jun 2024 No related titles in your selected language yet.