Cast: Mammotty,Sneha, Arjun, Kalabhavan, VMC Haneefa, Sumitra, Riaz Khan
Production: Pankaj Productions
Music: Vidyasagar
On the face of it, Henry's Vande Mataram, a bilingual film directed by Aravind T (of Oomai Vizhigal fame), has a many things going for it -- a strong star cast, neat cinematography, a great SFX team and a plot that tries to veer away from the standard patriotic formula. Yet, there are plenty of stumbling blocks that destroy the momentum and take the spice from the story.
Vande Mataram is based on the story of a group of officers who go hunting for terrorists, who have been creating havoc in the Tamilnadu - Kerala border. Mammootty plays an officer in the Intelligence Bureau while Arjun plays a Superintendent of Police.
The film begins at the central investigative agency finds out that Malik, head of a terrorist organization, has crossed the border and entered India to execute deadly explosions in South India. Gopi Krishnan played by Mammootty, Southern zone command director of the Intelligence bureau, is assigned the task of tracing the plans of the group, eliminating them and destroying their plans.
The first half has raciness due to various plots involved, but during the second half the pace drops down invariably. It’s all because the drama completely involves one-to-one investigation on terrorists.
D. Imman’s music is good and the re-recording is inspiring at times. The director has chosen an apt title for the movie, after a long time, as we get really emotional and patriotic watching the movie. Vandae Maatharam is a good movie which could have been better if it had been fine-tuned a little.
