Do not be fooled by the promotions that say Vyapari is based on the concept of cloning. It seems like somebody told the director about the word and he liked it. So he decided to use it in his story without any research whatsoever.
Suryaprakash (Surya) is a very ambitious and dedicated businessman, who will stop only when he has earned a rupee more than Bill Gates. In the process he completely ignores his family, who wait for months together just to a catch a glimpse of him. He meets college student Savitri (Tamanna), in complete awe of his personality and ambitious nature.
Surya likes her cooking and wants to use her skills to make more money. He offers her the job of head chef but she insists on marrying him. Although he isn't interested, he marries her in the interest of his business. Thus, Savitri's life post-marriage is full of anguish. Like her in-laws, she also waits for Surya, but in vain. She tries to visit him in his office only to be yelled back by Surya.
Surya, quite disturbed by his family's demand for his attention, decides to have himself cloned, so that while he looks after his business, the clone will look after the family! However, the clone soon understands that the problem is not with the family members but with Surya. So he decides to make the real Surya understand the worth of a family. The rest of the story deals with Surya getting over his greed for money, and coming back to his family.
The movie -- from the story to the dialogues to the direction -- has so much of SJ Surya's mark in it that it is quite difficult to believe that someone else has made the movie. However, the credit reads Shakti Chidambaram. The script has been written without any attention to detail, especially with regards to cloning. However fresh the idea, the treatment has been poor and that makes the difference. Even cinematographer Paneerselvam's work has been so tailor-made that it almost looks like SJ Surya's own movie.
Performance of the entire cast is satisfactory except for SJ Surya, who is beyond redemption. It is quite difficult to find someone who is so conscious of the camera. If what he does (in almost every movie) is with the intent of being funny, its time that he realises that it doesn't work.
Tamanna's performance is upto the mark, in fact the best of the lot. Sita has almost become the first choice for the role of a mother in Tamil movies. Her performance stands up to her reputation.
It is one of those rare Tamil movies where the female lead has some significant role to play in the story. But the director probably thought that her role is not best suited for the sleaze factor and, as it seems to be, these days our filmmakers can't do without that. So he ropes in Malavika and Namitha to shake their hips to Deva's music.
At quite a few places, the movie seems like a rehash of Surya's earlier films. Its better if Mr Surya realises that it will look better if someone else pays tribute to his work, rather doing it himself.
A below par film.
Rediff Rating:
