Valimai is a 2022 action thriller by H.Vinoth, starring Ajith Kumar, Huma Qureshi, Karthikeya and others. Valimai began filming in 2019, and the film was put on hold for more than two years because of pandemic concerns. Many action sequences in the movie, such as the bike stunts and chases, were filmed in Russian locations. Thala Ajith’s fans went crazy asking for movie updates when there were no updates regarding the movie. As a result, the “Valimai update” banners began to appear during cricket matches, football matches and even during the visit of the Prime Minister to Tamil Nadu. With a tagline of ‘Biggest action thriller,’ Valimai was one of the most excitedly anticipated movies of the year.

Valimai describes various crimes committed by a dangerous biker group in Chennai. When the police cannot uncover the motive behind these murders, the higher officials appoint Arjun Kumar (Ajith Kumar) as their investigator. As the movie continues, it shows Arjun’s background and how he handles the investigation, which leads to a surprising turn and a confrontation with the villain.

Ajith Kumar is the kind of actor who brings a lot of energy to the screen. His work and energy throughout the film were remarkable. His passion for motorcycles is well-known. He is an avid racer and bike enthusiast. His energy and enjoyment for the chase scenes and action are evident onscreen. He should develop more roles in highly action-packed movies like Vivegam and Valimai. Huma Qureshi was excellent. She absolutely stunned the audience in that pre-interval bridge scene. Karthikeya did a fabulous job, but the villain character was a little difficult for him, especially he looked weak when he was facing off against Ajith Kumar. The rest of the cast did well, such as Sumithra, Raj, and Dinesh.

A film made by the Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru director, one of the best thrillers in Tamil cinema, everyone eagerly anticipated Valimai and expected some brilliant scenes like Theeran. While Valimai delivered on expectations, the movie ended up being just a better version of Vivegam + Viswasam. The movie started a bit slow and then gathered momentum and became quite engaging. The chase scenes before the halfway point were excellent and adrenaline-pumping. A below-average second half prevented the movie from being a blockbuster record-breaker. They spoiled the movie’s action and thrilling essence by forcing a lot of unwanted family sentiments and emotional scenes. Valimai would have been perfect without such scenes. In the second half, they lost the buildup they gave for the villain in the first half. The villain almost became a laughable character. Also, the action sequences were few and far between in the second half. But still, the direction by H.Vinoth made the movie a worthwhile experience and somehow managed to overcome the flaws. The screenplay could have been better, and the writer-director H.Vinoth should have avoided unwanted family sentiments scenes.

Whenever the topic of superstars arises, we see blockbuster writers and directors compromising their originality and changing the movie format to please a mass and family audience of their hero. We saw how Lokesh Kanagaraj changed the Master to a regular Vijay film after an exceptional 1st half. The same thing happened with Valimai. H. Vinoth tried to please Ajith fans and family audience in 2nd half. It’s time for them to stop compromising their originality for the sake of impressing fans.

The cinematography of Valimai was exceptional. Yuvan Shankar Raja‘s songs and Ghibran‘s BGM were good. The editing part also could have improved. Valimai is an entertaining film and one of the best from Ajith Kumar in recent times. The movie succeeded as a commercial action thriller. It is an enjoyable film for the fans of Thala Ajith.