Valimai story

Valimai review: Terrific action in Ajith Kumar film supersedes predictable story

 Tamil cinema’s attempt to pull off something like The Fast and the Furious franchise but with tempered version of the hero. So, lots of fast vehicles but not as much fury. Seemingly inspired by the real-life Satan’s Slaves Motorcycle Club of  England,  is about a gang of bikers who indulge in criminal activities. Written and directed by  the film shows off skills with the bike admirably but if you go looking for the story, you’ll only meet with potholes.

The film’s budget runs to Rs 150 crore, and you can see where exactly they’ve spent it and where they haven’t (on developing the script, definitely not). plays an upright middle-class police officer who is against encounters but thinks breaking a few bones in custody is inevitable. His older brother  in a limited role) is a drunkard, his younger brother is an engineer who surprisingly wants to do only an engineering job, and his sister is of no consequence (status - married). Their moth doesn’t have much to do other than worry about her sons. The familial bonds become crucial later in the film but the writing is so flimsy that we hardly care about any of them. Even a fake family in a TV commercial for toothpaste would have accomplished more warmth.

Chennai city is plagued by a series of crimes, and the Chennai Police Commissioner rues the fact that the entire force doesn’t have a single people-friendly officer. The poor Commissioner is forced to drop several such inane lines throughout the film, only to entries and exits along with background score. The first time we see on screen, it’s raining and a bolt of lightning lights up his face. It’s the cue that fans have been waiting for, and the drama created by the camera, background score, and lighting is enough to whip up a frenzy. But soon after, who seems determined to deflate his star power and give his fans a realistic image of himself, settles into a sedate policeman role that is different from the flamboyant ones we’re used to seeing.

But to make this really work, needed a solid script. In the absence of that, we get flashy screens, a room full of cops and hackers tapping away, villains with villainous tattoos, and a plot with wheels that don’t turn. Terms like ‘dark web’ are thrown around, to lend the whole thing some gravitas but considering we’re in 2022 and the audience has already seen all this in other films, there is little to grip our interest.  I kept expecting meme fame GM who appears as a corrupt cop in the film, to say, 

 plays Sofia, a narcotics officer, who is close to family and may or may not be in a relationship with him (why waste time delving into human emotions when you can show a bike stunt?). There are two other women officers we see frequently but they have nothing to do other than look wowed by In an unintentionally hilarious sequence,  asks them to have a ‘selfie contest’ right in the middle of the investigation and the enthralled women immediately obey his order, making faces at the camera. With officers like these, no wonder the Chennai Police Commissioner is depressed.

While the first half of the film gets away by including some truly marvelous stunts that are captured wonderfully by Shah, the second half seems like a spoof of old Tamil films with mother sentiment. The plot runs out of petrol and chokes on its own fumes, trying to make the audience feel something (what was that final scene with all the mama’s boys?!). plays the chief villain (I can’t even remember the name of his character) and sneers his way through the film. He tears his shirt off, exposing his many tattoos, and I wish we’d seen at least 10% of that intricacy in the script.

Look out for your liver even if you don’t drink: Cirrhosis is a risk for non-alcoholics

Liver disease often develops silently, virtually or mistaken for other common conditions till the late stages.

 

“Biking, for me, is more than just a hobby – it’s about taking control of my life,” says 56-year-old  (name changed). So, when the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis appeared as a bolt from the blue in is life, and made it difficult to continue engaging in his  outdoor activity, he felt shattered. But there was even more difficult news coming, as doctors thoughtfully counselled that he might soon need a liver transplant even to survive. 

For  who had never touched a drop of alcohol in his life, this diagnosis came as a terrible shock. It is commonly believed that major liver diseases only affect those who abuse alcohol. However, doctors point out that, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease  leading to cirrhosis, is an increasingly common occurrence among middle-class Indian men and women – even those who do not drink. “We are concerned to see data emerging in recent times from our Group of Hospitals in south India,on younger people being affected by cirrhosis of liver. The average age of cirrhosis patients has now dropped to the forties and fifties,” says  Senior Consultant  Surgeon and Liver Transplant Specialist, Hospital, Chennai. 

What is Cirrhosis of the Liver?

Cirrhosis of liver is a late-stage liver disease in which significant damage to the liver has resulted in the formation of scar tissue replacing  liver cells. In cirrhosis, so many healthy cells thus get damaged over time, and beyond repair, that the liver cannot function normally. The organ would eventually go into terminal failure, threatening life. 

The liver is the detox  of the body, and also has significant regenerative abilities, says consultant at Hospital,  “Unlike other organs in the body, given opportunity and time, the liver has a tendency to repair itself. But cirrhosis occurs when the liver is not able to repair itself anymore.”  

While excessive alcohol consumption and diseases such as hepatitis-B and hepatitis-C are common causes of cirrhosis, unhealthy lifestyles can also lead to this condition. Patients who are obese or have conditions like diabetes, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or metabolic syndrome are at risk of developing which can lead to cirrhosis over time in some patients. This applies universally to both men and women. 

There are no treatments that can reverse cirrhosis of liver after it occurs, but medication and lifestyle changes can halt the progression of symptoms and help manage the condition if detected early. If the cirrhosis progresses too far, however, a liver transplant is the only option available to patients. 

Why should you be concerned?

Described by friends and family as fun-loving, always had an affinity for food, loving to dig into ice-creams and the like. Though developed symptoms like bloating or discomfort around his stomach, it never seemed like a cause for concern, and was dismissed as resulting from something he ate.

Doctors are concerned that increasingly sedentary lifestyles are contributing to the growing risk of liver disease. “Yes, did have an easy-going lifestyle with a diet that contributed to his illness. But many of us today have a lifestyle like his,” says the senior consultant surgeon who performed liver transplant.

What complicates matters is that cirrhosis from  has a slow progression and is often virtually  until the late stages. And even if there are symptoms, they can often be mistaken for several other common conditions. “Cirrhosis is not something that turns up overnight. The fibrosis (scarring) of liver cells builds up over years before the disease starts showing symptoms. And in most cases, patients ignore the symptoms until it reaches a critical point,” says Consultant Hospital, Chennai. 

Given the silent nature of cirrhosis and a lack of awareness among people, doctors say that patients often come in at a very late stage when transplant is the only option. However, this raises several challenges of its own.

 

 for instance, spent 8 months on the waiting list for a cadaver liver donor, before finally settling for a live donation by his adult daughter. This doubled his anxiety, as he worried both about his own recovery as well as the risk his daughter had to undergo for his sake. 

Transplant procedures can be tricky because it’s important to ensure that the patient’s body does not reject the donated organ or develop an infection that could severely compromise recovery. 

That is why, for patients like seeking care at specialist, and integrated care, units like Hospitals’ liver transplant has been vital. “We provide patients with 360-degree, 24/7 liver care. Thanks to our rigorous protocols, cutting-edge technology, highly trained surgical team and equally skilled supporting staff, our success rates have been consistently high,” 

What you can do to keep liver disease at bay:

· Eat a healthy diet: Doctors recommend a balanced diet with a healthy mix of proteins, carbohydrates and lower levels of fat. In particular, higher levels of green leafy vegetables for foods that help reduce inflammation like fish and nuts, and replacing unhealthy fats and refined carbohydrates with healthy fats and more complex carbohydrates are helpful. Avoiding alcohol or keeping it to a minimum is also helpful.

· Exercise regularly: The benefits of exercise to the body are extensive even when weight loss does not occur. Doctors recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week. 

· Lose weight: Over time, losing weight is a significant contributor to reversing the deposit of fat in the liver and improving liver health in the early stages of liver disease. Maintaining a healthy Body Mass Index and waist to hip ratio (of less than one) are very helpful in prevention. Abdominal obesity is becoming increasingly common, especially in south India, more in men than in women. Fat that you see around the abdomen is both inside and outside the abdomen and relentlessly damage  abdominal organs like the liver and lead to the troublesome Metabolic Syndrome, that is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels. 

· Stop smoking: Studies have found that smoking contributes to increased inflammation and scarring of the liver independent of other factors such as alcohol consumption. Stopping smoking also aids in cardiovascular complications.