While masala and romance films definitely have the upper hand these days, many directors are coming up with family-themed films that are immediately inviting because of the promise of the feel-good nature and lack of violence and glamor in such films in general. But the film then has to present something beyond these to hold our interest, which Vaazhthugal fails to do. The soft nature of the film and the attraction of the film being entirely in Tamil are not enough to overcome the lack of energy in the proceedings and the overwrought sentiments.

Kadhiravan(Madhavan), a successful businessman, has just seen his friend's parents being ill-treated by their daughter-in-law and doesn't want the same to happen in his life too. So when he sees Kayalvizhi(Bhavana) extolling the virtues of family in a TV interview, he immediately falls for her and sets his heart on marrying her. Posing as a contractor remodeling their home, he worms his way into her heart and the hearts of her family members. But the family's feelings towards him undergoes a change when they realize that he and Kayalvizhi are in love.

The selling point of Vaazhthugal is that every single word spoken in it is in chaste Tamil. One can appreciate director Seeman's love for the language and his intention to showcase it in this manner but there are times when it actually becomes detrimental to the movie. Some English words are so commonly used that their Tamil equivalents end up sounding artificial when used in everyday conversations. So when characters use phrases like vimaana nilaiyam for airport or thanga vaanambaadi(I don't even know what the English translation for that is) it becomes distracting. They seem cinematic and the usage of Tamil then starts to look like a gimmick.

After Cheran's huge joint family in Pirivom Sandhippom, Bhavana gets another similar family here. But the naturalness one felt when seeing Cheran's family is absent here. The basics are in place - there is a grandfather, an assortment of uncles and aunts and a few kids, they live together, they are affectionate towards each other, they have fun as a family, etc. - but the family seems more cinematic. The actors too share the blame for this. Almost of them, barring maybe Ilavarasu, seem a little stiff. They go through the motions but are unable to bring forth the spontaneity and sincerity needed to make them seem real.

The way Bhavana's family initially reacts to her love affair is a pleasant surprise and its effectiveness, as seen in the reactions of Madhavan and Bhavana, is also believable. But the surprise doesn't last. Things soon descend to the level of regular Tamil movies with loud sentiments and unwanted fights. The sentiments are particularly overdone with the emotional scenes raising laughs because of the artificiality of the whole thing.

Madhavan just has to be charming most of the time and he can do that with no trouble. But even he doesn't escape from earning unintentional laughs when forced to emote overtly. Bhavana is sweet as always and unlike in Aarya, she doesn't have to carry off a role that is at odds with the way she looks.