Since the blow dealt by Suraa, Vijay has been teaming up with established directors(his next 3 films are with Shankar, Murugadoss and Gautham Menon) and selecting movies (like his previous outing Kaavalan and his next, Nanban) that fall outside his comfort zone of commercial mass masala. But Velayudham falls smack dab in the middle of his comfort zone. An unapologetic masala flick with heroism, comedy, action, romance and sentiments, its comedy works very well but the other aspects come up short.

When freelance journalist Bharathi(Genelia) loses 2 of her friends and then sees the villains kill themselves in a freak accident, she invents a fictional vigilante Velayudham as the man behind the killings. The story then moves to Pavunoor where Velayudham(Vijay), the doting brother of Kaveri(Saranya Mohan), is getting ready for her wedding. Accompanied by Vaidehi(Hansika), his sister and a few villagers, he goes to Chennai to collect the money he has invested in a chit fund. But a few coincidences lead people to think that he is Velayudham.

Comedy has the upper hand during the initial portions and laughs are plenty as Vijay dotes on his sister and earns the wrath of the villagers. There is no big-name comedian but the large number of supporting actors interact well with Vijay and among themselves to keep the laughs coming. The episode in the train with Saranya's cooking being the butt of jokes earns the most laughs though other segments, like the one where the villagers look for gold in a well, work well too.

Santhanam makes his appearance once Vijay moves to Chennai. As an aspiring thief who hangs out with Vijay to lay his hands on his money, he isn't that funny with the funniest scene being one with his brothers and his father. But he makes up for that once Vijay returns to the village later since his plans to rob the money and the results of his schemes are all very funny.

The action has an interesting start with Vijay becoming an inadvertent hero just because he was unknowingly in the right place at the right time. But the developments after that are more routine and drag the movie down, especially towards the end. The canvas is big with the villains being global terrorists and powerful politicians but isn't handled with the slickness it deserves since the brazenness of the home minister and the actions and dialogs of the terrorists come across as very amateurish. The fight sequences are gruesome and violent though they are choreographed well. The train stunt sequence and the climax at the stadium are staged on a grand scale but the former is let down by some poor graphics while the latter fares better.

Though Hansika is quite brazen in her pursuit of Vijay(Baskar as her accomodating dad gets more laughs though), Vijay hardly spends time with her and so their romance never takes off. As for Genelia, Vijay's initial encounters with her are quite funny but their romance is quite tentative also. Hansika's jealousy over Genelia is cute and delivers some laughs but the way the movie eventually lets us know who Vijay is going to end up with is ridiculous with an out-of-the-blue flashback and an uncharacteristic, over-the-top reaction from one of the characters.

With Vijay having raised his sister on his own, there is no dearth of sentiments. Its mostly mixed with comedy in the beginning and so it works well enough. But it is used so predictably towards the end that it gets too melodramatic.

Vijay is on familiar territory here and displays his usual energy in the dance and fight sequences. Comedy comes easily and naturally to him and his antics in the comedy sequences are very enjoyable. Genelia usually plays a chirpy, bubbly character but she's the serious one here. Hansika has the livelier role and manages to do it sweetly. The actor playing the politician is loud and over-the-top while the one playing the main terrorist is more controlled and effective. Saranya Mohan is sweet as always. Molaichu Moonu... is the only number that works and it is also picturized well, particularly the split screens that show Vijay-Genelia and Vijay-Hansika execute similar steps. Sonnaa Puriyadhu... is a tad slower than usual introduction numbers while En Rathathin Rathame... cleverly hides some fan-targeted lyrics under the pretense of Vijay singing to his sister. Chillax... and Maayam Seidhaayo... are designed to allow Vijay to show off his dance prowess.