Ever since Vaali, movies which have the villain posing as a good man while secretly scheming the hero's downfall, have proven to be popular. The last entry in that category was Uyirile Kalandhadhu where the elder brother plotted his own brother's death because of an extreme case of sibling rivalry. Vaanavil too has a theme of the bad guy posing as the hero's friend. But a strong story with several branches, several new and unique situations, strong emotional moments and good action make this movie stand out.

Surya(Arjun), Priya(Abhirami) and Prakash(Prakashraj) meet by chance on the train to Delhi where they learn that they are all bound for the same IAS training camp. Its not long before Surya and Priya fall in love but Prakash, who has his heart set on Priya, is not ready to walk away. Obstacles, some introduced by Prakash and some due to other circumstances, hinder Surya's path.

With its tracks and subtracks and recursive flashbacks, this has to be one of the heaviest movies in recent times. Apart from the main storyline of Prakashraj trying to derail Arjun's ambitions, we have Arjun's bond with his father, his past in his village which led to a brief stint in jail, Abhirami's sister's story and a flashback for her friend. Depending on how you look at it, this movie has one of the meatiest stories or is really exhausting! Naturally characters come and go with no bearing on the story. You expect Devan and Indu to show up somewhere in the movie but they disappear after their initial appearances. Similarly, the story of the temple and the modern swayamvara on their village visit is interesting but using the whole sequence to just polish up Arjun's character is a little too much.

A bad guy posing as a good guy always evokes more menace than a straight villain. Prakashraj capitalises on this to portray a chilling villain. The twists and turns the movie takes to finally bring him and Arjun together in a jail are admirable. The scene where Arjun unmasks Prakashraj is another fine scene. But happenings from here turn incredibly cinematic. The fight sequence is executed well but the jailbreak is routine and the climax, with the judge being portrayed as watching 'Arattai Arangam' and basing his decision on that, is laughable. The judgement itself is quite unbelievable too.

Arjun's time in Abhirami's house offers some of the best portions of the movie. Her sister Uma captures us with her bubbling personality and her interactions with Arjun and Abhirami are done naturally. The jolly nature of these scenes makes the tragedy that follows very moving indeed. Another relationship that makes an impact is the one between Arjun and his father Manivannan. It is heartwarming the way Manivannan tries to get Arjun to take up smoking thinking it would help him burn the midnight oil and then takes it away on knowing its danger.

Based on Rhythm and this, Arjun's selection of movies has improved a lot. He brings a softness to the character and makes us root for him while at the same time performing well in the stunt scenes. Prakashraj overacts in the initial scenes but gets better, especially in the second half. Abhirami is impressive but is nowhere to be seen in the second half. Manivannan performs well as the doting father and Lakshmi is good as the goodhearted collector. S.P.Balasubramaniam is wasted as a judge who we don't get to see even delivering his judgement. Songs are tolerable but picturised rather unimaginatively.

The colors are a little faded but an enjoyable Vaanavil nevertheless.