What do you do if you get to
direct your favorite hero for the first time? You mix your previous movies into
one predictable cocktail and present it straight up, no twist. I may sound a
bit cynical but Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Yennai Arinthal with Ajithkumar in the
lead did not satisfy the appetite of the fan inside me who craved for this
combination for a long time. Let me get one thing straight. It’s not a bad
movie. It had its moments sure but I did not go in there to see Anbuselvan IPS
lose another Maya and do a Raghavan IPS sort of investigation, get involved in
a Major Surya-esque rescue of a child only to lose his own and finally puts
another Aradhana-like life in danger to beat yet another Pandiya/Amudhan. Even
though Gautham insists that the mix was done knowingly and as insisted by Ajith
himself, you come out of the theatre feeling a bit let down by brand GVM.
Brand Ajith however, did not
disappoint. You finally get to see the brilliant actor that he is, after
Kreedom (Even though my Mallu friends would probably be sharpening their knives
by now!). That’s seven long years and it was worth the wait. Ajith has
underplayed his image as a mass hero and delivered a soul stirring, near to
life performance as an honest cop, a caring father and a passionate lover. You
see him crying, searching, yearning and losing which you cannot associate with
his brand. Gautham Menon’s movies always show the lead actors in an elevated
scale as far as looks are concerned. But what happens when you Ajith in the
lead? You vehemently agree with Anushka’s observation as “the most handsome man
on earth”.
In recent times it is only for
Anushka that I have seen an equal response for a female actor as much as a male
actor on screen. But these days you sense that she is simply trying to
accommodate a lot of movies in between her two major projects, Bahubali and
Rani Rudramma Devi. You can feel the strain in her and it reflects in her
performance. So it’s Trisha as Hemanica (How GVM comes up with these names!)
who leaves a lasting impression in an extended cameo. To call this as a
lifetime role of Arun Vijay is wrong for this wonderfully gifted actor. But he
had stood up against a colossus and comes up with a performance that is
appreciated by even the most hardcore of Thala fans. The support is a plethora
of GVM’s cliched set of actors and you almost end up counting to see all of
them made it to this movie too. But thanks be to the good lord for not letting
Gautham voice over his villain again.
Dan’s cinematography gives a
gloomy and dark feel to an erstwhile Gautham movie and suits the mood of the
script perfectly. Harris’ songs, except for the “Unakenna” number, leave a lot
to be desired and so is his BGM. It’s a classic case of “What could have been!”
Gautham Vasudev Menon as a
director must be applauded for leaving his mark (albeit cliched) while working
with a larger than life hero. But then if you can stand out of a Kamal Hassan
movie, I don’t see why not. But it’s the script itself that I have problems
with. He will convince you that Ajith wanted it to be a G
VM movie and that it’s
just another episode in a police officer’s life. I don’t deny that and I think
that’s how it should be. But no matter what, I am not entirely convinced with
the idea of rehashing all of his old movies. It unfolds as an honest flick with
realistic performances that’s sure to go well with the critics. But as a fan of
GVM’s direction and Ajith’s acting, my expectations were sky rocketing into
something else altogether. It could be down to the fact that the movie just
happened out of the blue with him already gone shooting for his movie with
Simbu and he had to get a script ready in the last minute to make a movie with
an actor he had wanted to work ever since his first movie. The movie did not
disappoint for sure and it was refreshing to see Ajith in a performing role but
you can’t help but feel a bit let down by the writing despite having Sriram
Raghavan and Thyagarajan Kumararaja on board. May be this is only the first
chapter of a long and fulfilling partnership. I’d be happy to see Gautham
direct a full fledged romantic movie with Ajith in the lead.
As for Yennai Arindhal, well,
nothing much to know about it!
