Much-awaited Vaaranam Aayiram from Gautham Vasudev Menon turns out to be a class movie, very different from his earlier works, yet maintaining many of his trademarks. The plot revolves around the life of Surya(that's the character's name as well), his relationship with his father Krishnan(played by Surya himself). It's quite hard to see the father and son as two different entities, as young Surya is almost totally in his father's mould, character-wise. Appearance-wise, Surya has blended into the characters of different ages(from 16 to 60) quite well.
The first half of the movie is vibrant and entertaining. The first song(Mundhinam) shows the elder Surya in his youth, wooing Simran(Malini) and marrying her. "Ivlo azhagai yaarum paathurukkamaattan" seems a little too much for the aged Simran. Then the movie goes on to show the early years of Surya and how his character develops gradually. The young Surya takes inspiration from his father, who is portrayed as a true role model(the movie itself is a dedication to Vasudev Menon). The father sentiment is conveyed in the right degree, neither overplayed nor underplayed. Surya steals the show as a youngster, having toned down his body for the school and college student appearances. The romance in the first half between Surya and Meghna(Sameera) is engrossing, though not exceptional. What Madhavan did to adolescent girls through his first film, Surya is still able to do the same after 20-odd films, which is quite an achievement. Talking about Sameera, she is a lot less revealing in this movie, but does look pretty(Gautham has an extra-ordinary knack of making ordinary heroines look appealing). They say there is no comedy in the movie. I beg to disagree. What do you call it when Sameera(seeing her in a movie after Race) utters a dialogue "Exam puttukka chancey illa. I'm a university topper. 99% ku keela vaangavey maaten". This line generated the most laughter in the audience. Why, even Sameera was grinning when she said that, and Surya even more. Gautham should not think the audience is so gullible(maybe he has a fascination for ultra-intelligent girls, but things such as this add unintended humor to the movie(remember Jothika being an IIT-Madras maths graduate(Surya couldn't suppress his grin back then too)))
Returning to a serious note, Surya's acting is quite impressive in the movie, especially in the drug rehab (cold turkey) scenes. I don't remember any other Tamil movie portraying the harmful effects of drugs more effectively. Inspiration seems to be drawn from Shantaram(I could actually see the book in the background in one of the shots). Perhaps if one takes a screenshot of that still, we could find out many of his inspirations for this movie. The transition Surya undergoes in the second half(after the obvious tragedy) is interesting, something which perhaps those who have gone through such hardships would understand the most(I'm not saying I have, but the effect of the movie would be more pronounced on such people). But the impact is not all that great(not comparable to other movies like 7G, Kaadhal or Parutthi Veeran), it is lost somewhere in the plot in the second half. The movie is more like a personal diary or an autobiography(that's where the effect is lost). The screenplay could have been done a lot better. Divya's role in the second half as a gap-filler is questionable, but as it's a personal diary, we can't have any complaints.
Music, a definite plus to the movie. Harris Jeyaraj is magical when it comes to Gautham's movies. Every song is hummable. Mundhinam and Adiyae Kolludhe being my favourites. Shruthi Haasan's voice in the latter deserves special mention. The background score is also good, but not as impressive as Kaakha Kaakha or Minnale.
Overall, the movie deserves to be appreciated, not trashed as done by many of the reviews online. It may not have commercial aspects to it, but commercialism is not the only thing in cinema, and audiences should become more sensible to embrace movies such as this and elevate the quality of tamil cinema. I was happy to hear appreciative clapping from one portion of the FDFS audience at Abirami theatre, but disgusted by the voice that shouted "Padam kandippaa odaadhu" minutes before the climax. This reflects the general scene in Kollywood these days. It is that voice that is still ruling the roost, and not the claps, which are easily overshadowed, what with negative reviews from the media as well.
The first half of the movie is vibrant and entertaining. The first song(Mundhinam) shows the elder Surya in his youth, wooing Simran(Malini) and marrying her. "Ivlo azhagai yaarum paathurukkamaattan" seems a little too much for the aged Simran. Then the movie goes on to show the early years of Surya and how his character develops gradually. The young Surya takes inspiration from his father, who is portrayed as a true role model(the movie itself is a dedication to Vasudev Menon). The father sentiment is conveyed in the right degree, neither overplayed nor underplayed. Surya steals the show as a youngster, having toned down his body for the school and college student appearances. The romance in the first half between Surya and Meghna(Sameera) is engrossing, though not exceptional. What Madhavan did to adolescent girls through his first film, Surya is still able to do the same after 20-odd films, which is quite an achievement. Talking about Sameera, she is a lot less revealing in this movie, but does look pretty(Gautham has an extra-ordinary knack of making ordinary heroines look appealing). They say there is no comedy in the movie. I beg to disagree. What do you call it when Sameera(seeing her in a movie after Race) utters a dialogue "Exam puttukka chancey illa. I'm a university topper. 99% ku keela vaangavey maaten". This line generated the most laughter in the audience. Why, even Sameera was grinning when she said that, and Surya even more. Gautham should not think the audience is so gullible(maybe he has a fascination for ultra-intelligent girls, but things such as this add unintended humor to the movie(remember Jothika being an IIT-Madras maths graduate(Surya couldn't suppress his grin back then too)))
Returning to a serious note, Surya's acting is quite impressive in the movie, especially in the drug rehab (cold turkey) scenes. I don't remember any other Tamil movie portraying the harmful effects of drugs more effectively. Inspiration seems to be drawn from Shantaram(I could actually see the book in the background in one of the shots). Perhaps if one takes a screenshot of that still, we could find out many of his inspirations for this movie. The transition Surya undergoes in the second half(after the obvious tragedy) is interesting, something which perhaps those who have gone through such hardships would understand the most(I'm not saying I have, but the effect of the movie would be more pronounced on such people). But the impact is not all that great(not comparable to other movies like 7G, Kaadhal or Parutthi Veeran), it is lost somewhere in the plot in the second half. The movie is more like a personal diary or an autobiography(that's where the effect is lost). The screenplay could have been done a lot better. Divya's role in the second half as a gap-filler is questionable, but as it's a personal diary, we can't have any complaints.
Music, a definite plus to the movie. Harris Jeyaraj is magical when it comes to Gautham's movies. Every song is hummable. Mundhinam and Adiyae Kolludhe being my favourites. Shruthi Haasan's voice in the latter deserves special mention. The background score is also good, but not as impressive as Kaakha Kaakha or Minnale.
Overall, the movie deserves to be appreciated, not trashed as done by many of the reviews online. It may not have commercial aspects to it, but commercialism is not the only thing in cinema, and audiences should become more sensible to embrace movies such as this and elevate the quality of tamil cinema. I was happy to hear appreciative clapping from one portion of the FDFS audience at Abirami theatre, but disgusted by the voice that shouted "Padam kandippaa odaadhu" minutes before the climax. This reflects the general scene in Kollywood these days. It is that voice that is still ruling the roost, and not the claps, which are easily overshadowed, what with negative reviews from the media as well.
