Aayirathil Oruvan- Review

Monday, January 18, 2010, 9:04 [IST]
Aayirathil Oruvan
Let"s not blame Selvaraghavan for having spent a big sum and certainly a very long time to complete the film. Naturally, to experiment with a unique genre of fantasy, adventure and war, it really requires so many potentials to be drawn. But the most blatant flaw goes beneath Selvaraghavan"s script lacking substantive dioramas in various arenas.

But what stops the film from striking gold is its inability to engross the universal audiences, especially during the second hour.

Mark our words. 'Open Ending" is never entertained with the audiences of Tamil film industry. In all likelihood, Aayirathil Oruvan has a better first half (with usual Selvaraghavan that abundantly caters to the 'B" and 'C" centres. But the latter part flees to a different arena.

When a far-famed archeologist (Prathap Pothan) vanishes across the lands, which was once ruled by Chola Dynasty, Anitha (Reemma) and her group of officials are appointed by Government to unravel the mystery. Archeologist"s daughter Dr. Lavanya (Andrea) too joins the defense troupe to carry out the mission. Strapping group of men lead by Sugumaran (Karthi) is employed to assist them.

The journey starts off with cheerful moments at the cruise at the guys chill out boozing and tripping their light foot now and then. Let"s not forget Sugumaran, whose unrestrained one-liners are sure to tickle the funny bones. As the group shores on the mysterious island, weird scenarios starts striking and somehow the trio Sugu-Anitha-Lavanya reach the untouched lands where the archeologist disappeared.

But, the actual intentions of the quest in unraveled during second half with unlooked entities of Chola dynasty showing up. What follows next is a series of mysteries, which indeed leads to terrific results.

Karthi does a wonderful job with his ostentatious characterization. Watch him articulating the local language in early hours and his gestures; it"s more off Paruthiveeran impact. But his disported performance offers a pollyannaish treat. On pars, his abrupt change of shades in the final hours is praiseworthy. Reemma gets a meaty role, but Selvaraghavan could"ve opted for a Tamil speaking girl suiting to the nativity. Her lip-sync turns to be inappropriate at many occasions, especially with articulation of ancient Tamil. Andrea sleepwalks through her role and looses her prominence very often.

In spite of shelling out a great publicity for Parthiban"s role, there"s nothing much impressive we tend to witness. Azhagam Perumal is okay while Prathap Pothan doesn"t appear in more than three sequences. There"s whole lot of discontinuities spotted now and then. Watch Karthi trying to flirt with Andrea over the cruise, his face has dark tone and as getting down towards Reema, he looks so rejuvenated with fair complexion. The way this trio head through the shadows to shake off from sand dunes is an excellent piece of creativity. Perhaps, the pre-interval sequence after 'Un Mela Aasadhan" is a surprising act. Apparently, Karthi fans would go restless as he hardly appears over the screens. Yes, it"s all about realms of Parthiban and Reema for the next 45minutes and Karthi gets back to the picture patently during penultimate sequences.

Musical score by G.V. Prakash is spellbinding. The young lad strikes off with a fantabulous background score. 'Un Mela Aasadhan" is a special treat for the gold rush over lyrics and glamorous dimensions. Ramji"s cinematography is top-notching but some of his best visuals are diminished with lots of CG works. If Selva had added a melodic-song, (either 'Maalai Neram" or 'Indha Paadhai") it would have been pleasant brush up for audiences.

With a longer duration of 200 minutes, the second half will likely develop restlessness yearning for the climax portion. As mentioned earlier, Selva could"ve picked an alternative climax instead of 'open ending". For sure, Aayirathil Oruvan is a noteworthy film in the history of contemporary Tamil Cinema. But, it"s strictly not for kids and family audiences.

Movie: Aayirathil Oruvan

Cast: Karthi, Reemma, Andrea, Parthiban, Prathap Potzhan, Azhagam Perumal and others

Director: Selvaraghavan

Music: G V Prakash

User Comments
Aarthi Raghavan 23 Feb 2011 06:52 am
i didn't feel the film was so good.i felt tht history was misused here & both the chola & pandya clan were insulted.
fred 18 Sep 2010 01:34 am
i felt my childhood days.. its really an story said by our grandma to entertain... selva did an gud job
Kamliesh 22 Jul 2010 10:23 am
Nonsense movie... a layman cannot understand whats happeneing in the second half...
Sasi 08 May 2010 01:43 am
Hugely INSPIRED(lifted) KIng Solomon's mines
Amdevan 30 Mar 2010 01:55 pm
Idiots can't understand what Selva has told. Link all the films happenings with original cholas and the current Lankan problem. It is a braveeeee attempt that Selva has done. Everyone should be proud to have selva in T.N
matts 24 Mar 2010 02:01 pm
gud attempt,next time movie of same genre is made,directors will try to minimise the flaws which appeared in AO...good movie ...but reema sending the major the location is soo stupid.and no magical warfare against the army when he can against a gal??
Mani 21 Mar 2010 04:55 am
As aghila said if you understand the movie, then you would realise that the climax could not be more apt.
aghila 21 Mar 2010 04:52 am
If you have not liked the movie, then watch it second time. Anybody who understands what goes in the movie will surely be stunned
truth 14 Mar 2010 02:21 am
this kind of movies spoil tamil industry.. if this movie tries out new story.. y there are so many obscence scenes.. dat means even the director is not confident of story ..ofcoz story line is copied from lot of other movies and not scripted well..
vinay kumar Hsk 13 Mar 2010 06:41 pm
i like this film but climax is not end properly, i expecting secondpart
[ Post Comments ]