Review Corner - Aayirathil Oruvan

The first thing I should probably say about this movie is that there should have been a subtle warning upfront : "The next 3 hours might come to you as a cultural shock, please wear your seat belt!". We might have seen lot more sensual and violent scenes in English movies, but to kollywood this is new. Atleast to this effect, there should have been a warning so people don't fear stepping out in the intermission to take a leak.

In Aayirathil Oruvan, Selvaraghavan proves once again his obsession with sex and death. And the movie amazes you, for the tamil audience, I am convinced, has never seen anything like this in their cinema screens. The movie stuns you, races your heart, brings you to the edge of the seat, makes the pulse go wild, and then disgusts you, and then makes you squirum, and then lets you down in the end.

I am not going into the story here, that's for you to figure out after you see the movie. But it has inspired me enough to write a review. The camera has done a fantastic job and the scene settings are dramatic. G.V. Prakash is spot on with his music, but I was disappointed to not see the "Maalai Neram" song in the movie. The cast and the dialogue tones are pretty realistic and gives you an aura of things like they are happening right now.

The first half rushes past you before you take note, it is fast. And scary at that (not for the faint-hearted, as they say). There is everything here that has not been done before. Adventure taken to a new level, as the team crosses the seven traps: Glowing starfishes, Red-painted savages, Snakes, Thick forests, Scorching deserts, Quicksands (literally), and the best of all, the maddening village. And in each, it gets bolder.

If the portrayal of cannibals was hair-raising in washing-human-heads and stocking-their-hands, the brutality of the savages was neck-ticking in their fighting spirit and devotion to faith. You want to know where I got the first glimpse of audacity? Reema Sen and Andrea exchange about 10 fiery heated dialogues in english filled with the f-word, c-word and the b-word. For about a full minute, all you can hear is the muted "beeeeep" to cut out the obscenities. But their angry eyes dart everywhere over the body to make you understand what is meant. They haven't faked the accent, they haven't overdone it, and they haven't failed to nail it. Now, this is a first in tamil cinema, and it alone would have given the movie an 'A' rating if not for other vulgarities. I wish there is something like a "AAA+++" rating.

The audience relate to Kaarthi in the scene who stands helpless and blinking wondering what's going on. Everyone would have broken a sweat when they finished shooting that scene. Anyway, those who love similar things in tamil would not go disappointed, as Kaarthi has his share of bad words througout the movie, that makes the b-word sound noble. "Un mela aasadhan" is an entertaining song, one that disguises what is to come after. The maddening scene in the mysterious ruined village where the three of them go out of their minds is downright frightening, sending shivers inside you. That is also a first, and it was painful to see these beautiful beings go berserk. You will either laugh or cry, but definitely squirm.

So much for the first half of the movie. The first half of the second half is also in the same tone, you know something is lurking around the corner waiting to strike.

The choice of cast has taken care of that. Selvaraghavan and his team has researched Tamil literature very well and the one hour where they speak "sanga tamil" was terrific. I lost myself in the screen that one hour as some wonder if what is being spoken is Tamil, because you need to concentrate to understand. I was so intrigued and awestruck by the detail of concetration spent here to perfect the dialogue and its delivery. None other than Parthiban could have probably done justice to that role. He is in his elements, those-days-crazy-guy that we all know. Imagine him playing a descendant king of a clan of cholan dynasty guarding their little secret, isolated from reality, living their ancestors' ways. He dances and dances well. The erotica is made subtle with "veenai" in the background, and attempted to be shown within the acceptable line: but that only makes it all the more darkly sensuos, because he is making out with Reema Sen's shadow, and she is hanging in the air, responding with real emotions. Can it get any more imaginative? Selvaraghavan simply can't resist it when there is a way to twist things. Reema Sen scintillates with her acting that is more than bold, it deserves a hats-off. I am not very fond of the lady, but the way she performed this role takes the cake. She is not great at the lip synch, but you tend to overlook that with your efforts to understand the language. She has done full and more justification to her salary. Kaarthi's role is important, but it comes too late that it is not significant. Andrea is a silent spectator for most of the movie. Oh wait, except for that one-minute freely-verbal part, that is.

And after getting through all this, the climax is a big letdown. The story completely loses track after such a gripping process, and you get lost. The battle between the militia and the old-way army is comical, and it surprised me they could get as far as they got. Kaarthi's battle line commands were rib-tickling. Don't get me wrong, they are supposed to be serious. If this had been inspired by 300, then am sure he didn't get it right. You suddenly feel like there is a college skit going on, and you don't know if you should be serious or if it is meant to be a comedy. Having laid the foundation for a dramatic end, it suffices to say the climax was an unfortunate miscarriage. You don't want to watch a cholan queen dancing to "appadi podu", with that stupid military guy prodding her with his gun. Even if it was supposed to be funny, it is not what I would pay my money for. By the way, it was not funny, it was indignant! The tortures were boring, the rapes were cinematic and the king's end was an outright shame. Infact, it is even dragging towards the end and you don't know if the movie ends when it actually ends.

The movie could have been salvaged by making it the Indiana Jones way, showing it as pure adventure. Instead, they chose to show that history has a way of repeating itself; And it does, for people don't like to see a movie where the evil camp wins. But that is Selvaraghavan for you. If he had been writing this review, he would say: "Aayirathil Oruvan is like engaging in a long stint of heated sex where, unfortunately, you don't climax. Worse, everything goes flak in the end. You are knifed just before the moment, your pain is that of disgust and everything goes black!". That doesn't mean the movie is not worth a watch. Leave out the last 25%, and this is a movie that takes tamil cinema to turfs beyond leaps and bounds. Strictly not for the family man. Take your lady along if she can withstand movies like "Saw" and "Final Destination". Don't take your children along even if they give the ticket free!