Vishal is known for his high-octane mass-action entertainers. He is coming to entertain viewers with his film Laatti directed by Vinoth Kumar. Laatti OTT rights have been bagged by the SunNxt platform and the streaming date will be announced after the completion of its theatrical run. The film is releasing on 22 December 2022. Let us find out what Vishal offered to viewers.
Laatti story is all about an honest police officer and how he confronts adverse situations when rounded up dreaded criminals in the city. Police Constable Murali Krishna (Vishal) is suspended and he tries his best to get his suspension waived. In the meantime, he gets into a tangle with the dreaded criminal Soora (Sunny PN) who plans for his son Veera's ( Ramana) political entry. Why Murali Krishna is suspended, how he is connected to Soora and Veera, what role does DIG Kamal (Prabhu) play, and why it affects his family comprising of wife Kavitha (Sunaina), a nurse and son Raju (Lirish Raghav) has to be seen on the screen.
Vishal is known for his action entertainers. He once again came up with another action entertainer and this time he donned Khaki colors for a change. Vishal looked good in the role of the police officer. He showed the right kind of expressions and emotions. The way he showed concern for his family, his commitment to duty, and how he longs for his missing son makes an impression on the big screen. He enacted risky stunts with ease and his hard work is seen on the screen. He transformed himself in the role and the dialogue delivery is good. But at times his makeup during the climax didn't suit him. He looked odd but viewers may ignore it. He transformed his physique for the role of the police officer but at times he looked bulky.
Sunaina got a limited role opposite Vishal as his wife. She is good-looking and did well. Lirish Raghav performed well as Vishal's son. Prabhu appeared in the role of a DIG and is ok while Sunny and Ramana who played the criminals did what was required of them. Others performed according to their roles.
Laatti story readied by director Vinoth Kumar highlights how a police officer singlehandedly fights for his survival when confronted with the dreaded criminals. Vinoth followed the regular template of the cop stories seen all these decades on the screen. The first half has little action as Vishal is seen trying to see his suspension off and in the process, Vinoth Kumar pays more attention to the bonding between his wife and son. At the same time, he showed the moves made by the criminal to get his son into politics in his own way. This set the stage for the exciting second half after the first half ends on a decent note with two parallel stories covering at the break.
As claimed by the makers, director Vinoth included high-octane action sequences throughout the second half. The entire second half boils down to how the protagonist fights to save himself and his son. the intense action sequences appeal to the masses though they are shot in a routine way. However one gets a feeling that the pre-climax is dragged with Vishal searching for his son and finally the story ends on a predictable note. Vinoth's story is routine but the screenplay is racy to an extent. His direction is fine to a point.
Dialogues are in accordance with the story and nothing excites. Stunts choreographed by Peter Heins are breathtaking in the second half. Yuvan Shankar Raja's background music is good and it elevated the scenes to another level. The cinematography of Balasubramaniem, and Balakrishna Thota could have been better as the coloring impacted the visuals. The editing of Srikanth is ok but could have been better in the second half. Production values are good.
Vishal's Laatti directed by Vinoth excited the masses but in the end, it offered nothing new. It is just old wine in an old bottle. Vishal worked hard for the film but with poor writing, a weak story, and direction, his hard work went unnoticed. More than two third's of the film is extremely routine and the next one-third is stuffed with action sequences. With emotions failing to connect chords with the movie lovers, Laatti failed to show its power. Vinoth's inexperience exposed all the loopholes in the script and the screenplay. Altogether, Laatti lacks strength. Considering all these aspects, Cinejosh goes with a 1 Rating for Laatti.