Yaanai is an action drama film written and directed by Hari, and produced by Vedikkaranpatti S Sakthivel under the banner Drumstick Productions. The film has Arun Vijay and Priya Bhavani Shankar in the lead roles while Samuthirakani, Radhika Sarathkumar, Yogi Babu, Ammu Abhirami, Ramachandra Raju and others play supporting roles. The music is composed by GV Prakash and the cinematography is handled by Gopinath.

PRV family is very influential in the district of Rameshwaram, and Ravi (Arun Vijay) is the only son of his father's second wife. He goes to any extent to save his family's dignity and honour, he is generally violent in nature. The family has a feud with Lingam's family (Ramachandra Raju) who live in Ramanathapuram on the other side of Pamban bridge. A series of unfortunate events result in Ravi's entire family breaking down and almost getting separated. What Ravi does to keep things intact and how the feud between both families get resolved form the rest of the plot.

We all know what to expect in a trademark Hari film, right? A hero introduction song to begin with, plenty of fight scenes, a comedy track, fast paced songs-background score, a racy screenplay, dialogues about the importance of family and at times, the hero forgiving the villain in the climax. Well, Yaanai almost ticks all these boxes. 

This is what works in the film, at the same time pulls the film down. Director Hari seems to be stuck in the above mentioned template and Yaanai is robbed off all its innovativeness. While the fight scenes and punch dialogues are enjoyable, the comedy tracks miss the timing more often than not. Yogi Babu and Pugazh try exactly what Soori and Santhanam would have tried in the previous movies of Hari.

Arun Vijay and Priya Bhavani Shankar up front ace their roles to perfection. For the past few years, Arun Vijay has been playing roles that require him to be subtle and restrained. Here he returns to the Maanja Velu zone but as a more refined, mature actor. Priya Bhavani Shankar lands a meaty role here with lots of scope and makes full use of it. Among the supporting actors, Ramachandra Raju looks menacing as the antagonist, and Ammu Abhirami, Radhika Sarathkumar chip in with useful contributions. 

A couple of GV Prakash's songs are quite enjoyable and don't disturb the flow much. The placement of the songs too work well for the engagement, as they are used as a tool to make the scene better. The sound of the songs are also unique, when compared to previous Hari films. The editing and cinematography is strictly functional, giving the film what it exactly needs. The action scenes are shot well, with the boat chase scene in the climax standing out.

Overall, Yaanai is the kind of film that you might enjoy if you're a fan of Hari. Even then there are portions where you feel disconnected from the film, mainly because of the comedy track. There are a couple of scenes where Yogi Babu's counters work but overall this Hari template needs a revamp. Had the writing been a tad fresh, and different from his previous films, Yaanai would have been rampaging inside a forest. As for now, it has to be content with standing outside temples, calm and composed.