Arindhum Ariyamalum -An Average Entertainer

Intro-

In my earlier post I had earlier mentioned how I always looked forward to a debutant(e) directors movie.Most occasions have left me disappointed and few have left me with a feel good effect.The director of this movie Vishnu Vardhan had an eminently forgettable debut with a movie known as "Kurumbu".At every screen shot I was thinking what the hell was the director doing when he made this scene.It was supposed to be a parody of an american teen movie,with the similarity being the same stupid insipid story line where the guy wants to get laid and the difference being an eminently below par cast.I was thoroughly shaken after watching such a movie.Hence when people told me that this movie was good,I was quite shaken again as to what could the director have done better in a span of one movie to achieve such good recognition.And to tell you the truth he certainly has made giant strides.A movie that is a good entertainer with a different storyline is hard to come by these days and thus the director must definitely take all plaudits for this effort.Without further ado on to the review

The Story-For those with a "I want to see a different movie" attitude

The hero(Navdeep) leaves his native nagercoil for chennai to gain admission into a prestigious engineering college.(Ya obvious coz hes the hero and cant get into any rotten college).He chances upon a gal in the college whom he had seen earlier in nagercoil and ofcourse love blossoms in due course of time.During a fight between 2 rival rowdy gangs,the heroine gets shot at,the hero being the sole eye witness to the assailant.As the story unravels past the interval ,it comes to be known that the assailant was none other than his half brother(Arya) and his dad(Prakash Raj) is the gang leader.Just when you thought the story would become serious at this point of time,it doesnt;rather the revealation leads to rather comical situations and the story is then what transpires;does the hero accept Prakash Raj as his father or not.

My Views-

It is really really very tough to make a commerical masala movie with an element of comic nature being retained throughout.The risks being it becomes a spoof of something else or just ends up being a slapstick.The fact that it ends up being neither but a good entertainer is superb.
Directorial touches are few to come by ,although one must congratulate him for efficent casting.
The other notable directorial touch is when Prakash Raj realises that Navdeep might infact be his son,(With both Navdeepa and Prakash Raj doing "thithi"(funeral rites) for the same name,gothram etc on the same date one after another) is something innovative .Earlier we would have seen a family heirloom sported by the hero or the common song or some other weird connection like some arbit birthmark that is discovered during a fight scene.
Each and every song is brilliant and yuvan shankar raja comes up with another masterpiece post 7/g. Song picturisation is done really well,the little kids dancing in the rain in "Sil Sil Malaiye" and the "Yele Yele" song with the "dhavani clad ladies" being the best.

Plot-

The majority of the plot is only post interval with pre interval being limited to romance buildup and comic capers of his friends and himself being caught unawares as to whether it was the same gal he saw in Nagercoil.The actual plot is limited to revealations of how prakash raj is his real father , how he ensures there is no sibling rivalry ,the efforts he makes in trying to make Navdeep accept him as the father is the essence.The honest cop(who is out to get prakash raj) being thrown in to the picture to ensure the racy nature of the movie is critical.Just imagine taking him out of the equation and you would have an illogical movie.The cop ensures that there is a constant confusion in the minds of the hero as to whether turn his bro in or not and helps keep alive our interest in the movie.

Performance -

The half brother Arya is stylish ,different looking with his blue eyes and is probably the best of the lot.Prakash raj is his usual brilliant self with Navdeep being his limited self.Samiksha the new heroine (whose looks are quite asymetrical) doesnt have much of a role but performs adequately.The supporting cast led by "five star" Krishna with his strong histrionics and penchant for comedy really impressed me.(I got reminded of a similar strong performance by the supporting casts in Azhagiya theezhe)

Climax-

I was looking for a different climax than the usual since the entire movie had been different.However the climax was quite the usual.I cant blame the director coz he wanted to give a good entertainer and not a tear jerker or a message oriented movie .All in all ,a watchable movie with your friends/date/family/the gal next door.(thats a mutually exclusive set btw)

*Note family doesnt mean taking kids to the movie - read a very good opinion at http://bbthots.blogspot.com/2005/05/no-kids-please.html

*The Azlan Shah tournament and the French open just kept me busy over the past week and hence a dearth in reviews.I shall try to update my pace to twice a week.