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Vaathi review
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Filmi Score
Good
7 reviews
57
What the critics say
Audience Score · not yet · appears once three readers have written a review
Critics are split on Vaathi, with several praising Dhanush and the child performers for grounding its casteism and education themes, while others call the writing cliched, the romance wasted and the politics confused.
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Summary
Vaathi (2023, Tamil) has a Filmi Score of 57 from 7 critic reviews, is rated 7+ by Filmi (CBFC: U), and streams on Netflix in the US.
An assistant maths teacher takes up a tedious task of transforming underprivileged students despite the politics around education in the 90s.
Where to watchAvailability by JustWatch · some watch links pay filmi.ai a small commission; it never changes what we show or how we score.
Box office collection
No sourced figure yet.
Cast & crew
Cast
Directed by Venky Atluri · written by Venky Atluri & K. N. Vijayakumar & Venkatesh Mohan · music G. V. Prakash Kumar
Venky AtluriDirector · Writer
K. N. VijayakumarWriter
Venkatesh MohanWriter
G. V. Prakash KumarMusic
J. YuvarajCinematography
Naveen NooliEditing
DhanushLead
Samyuktha
Sai Kumar
Samuthirakani
Tanikella Bharani
Shiva Kumar Kasaram
Thotapalli Madhu
Narra Srinu
Pammi Sai
Hyper Adhi
Shah Ra
Aadukalam Naren
Full crew
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Summary
An assistant maths teacher takes up a tedious task of transforming underprivileged students despite the politics around education in the 90s.
Vaathi (2023, Tamil) has a Filmi Score of 57 from 7 critic reviews, is rated 7+ by Filmi (CBFC: U), and streams on Netflix in the US.
Where to watch
Availability by JustWatch · some watch links pay filmi.ai a small commission; it never changes what we show or how we score.What the critics said
7 reviews · the critic’s own number where they gave one
Five of 7 · the critic’s own number where they gave one
Siddarth Srinivas · 17 Feb 2023
The critic calls Vaathi an engaging, well-made entertainer carried by Dhanush and a fresh Samyuktha, with flaws in the melodramatic second half,… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
78
Likhith · YouTube, Kannada · transcript read · 19 Mar 2023
The critic praises Vaathi for sensitively handling the education/casteism theme, calling it close to an 'education revolution,' and credits… Watch it there →
Derived by Filmi
76
Haricharan Pudipeddi · 17 Feb 2023
The critic finds Vaathi effective and emotionally resonant, especially for middle-class viewers, with a smart finale, but faults it for an… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
76
Avinash Ramachandran · 16 Feb 2023
The critic sees a promising, heartfelt tale nearly undone by cliches, forced humour and a wasted love interest, but credits Dhanush and the child… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
65
17 Feb 2023
The critic finds a lively first half undercut by a second half that stalls with no clear direction, a template villain and an unclear message on… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
45
Anandu Suresh · 17 Feb 2023
Vaathi movie review: Dhanush starrer about right to education fares poorly Read it there →
Published · 1.5/5
Filmi’s reading 30
30
Bharathy Singaravel · 17 Feb 2023
The critic calls the script mediocre and the film's politics confused and casteist, with most of the cast wasted; closes by saying the soundtrack… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
28
How this number was made. We read every review and derive a 0–100 reading from each — including where the critic printed a number, which stays first on its row, because it’s theirs. The Filmi Score is the mean of 7 readings; 1 of those rows also carry the critic’s own rating, shown beside ours. Rubric v2.1, computed 26 Oct 2026. Any critic can ask us to remove a derived reading.
PublishedStated in videoDerived by FilmiNo score
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Vaathi: quick answers
Box office, where to watch and what critics said — from the same data as the page.
Where can I watch Vaathi?
Vaathi is streaming on OTT: Netflix (India, the US, the UK and Canada). Availability comes from JustWatch and is checked every Friday.
What did critics say about Vaathi?
Vaathi has a Filmi Score of 57 (Good), the mean of 7 readings of critic reviews, one per review. Readings run from 28 (The News Minute) to 78 (OnlyKollywood). Every review and how it was scored is listed below.
What readers say
The Audience Score appears once three readers’ reviews have been read under the rubric — built from what people write, never from the rating numbers.
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