Tomy is a golden retriever who belongs to Roy. The neighbor's dog is Amalu, a female cocker spaniel Tomy falls in love with. Yup, this is a dog love story!
Not only do the neighbours disapprove of Tomy's nightly visits to Amalu, but also because of their religious differences, causing friction between the two families. When Amalu falls pregnant and there's talk of taking her away, Tomy decides to run away with Amalu, saying they will return again once the pups are born.
And so these two lovers enter the world of street dogs. They encounter many obstacles along the way and also make new friends. Bruno, a Rottweiler, is a fighter dog who undergoes the most significant character development, and then there's Kari, who initially serves as the film's comic relief. Even dog movies have comic relief characters!
'Valatty' is a beautifully filmed movie with crisp and colourful images. Much of the film is showed in slow motion - or slower motion - for effect, and actually looks very good. The dogs are beautiful. However, I have several issues with the film. My main criticism is the story. 'Valatty' can't decide whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama addressing serious issues. Unfortunately it doesn't gel all too well.
As many cute moments as there are in the film, much of the cuteness is overshadowed by a darker theme involving animal cruelty. Thus, although there were many joyous moments in the movie, I disliked most of the movie. The antagonist is a dog catcher named Bhasi. Bruno's back story was told and shown in so much detail that I forwarded some of these scenes. If the intention was to make a family friendly movie, then Bruno's detailed back story is not appropriate. A mere mention of what he went through would have sufficed. If you're as big a dog lover as I am, I can't really recommend this film. 'Valatty' is also not nearly as funny as it wants to be. There's very little humour here I actually found funny.
On a positive note, I have to commend the director for making the first Indian film using real dogs throughout the movie instead of CGI creations. I also commend the dog actors for a job well done. Off course, clever photography and editing helped a great deal brining the story to life, and accomplishing this very difficult task. I also liked the ending. In general this is a good effort.
