One among a Thousand Indeed!

Unpredictable and surprising, the much-hyped Aayirathil Oruvan transcends the movie-watching experience to a new level and genre for the Tamil audience. This multi-starrer, which is a revelation of sort for the acting prowess of the movie’s leading protagonists, Reema Sen, Andrea and Parthiban, (Ofcourse, Karthi is the same as he was in Paruthi Veeran) lives up to its hype and sets a new level of standards for the genre of fantasy and adventure in Tamil Cinema.

The director, Selvaraghavan, by weaving in the interesting elements of fictitious history into the story line has managed to keep the interest of the audience sustained through out the movie. The characterization of the protagonists is another unique element which makes the movie interesting and intriguing, as all the characters are etched out in shades of grey with his or her own preferences and instincts for survival. For the first time in commercial Tamil cinema, the male protagonist does not resort to heroic efforts to save the women from the dangers, though the story line has ample scope for such gimmickry. On the contrary, the director has given him space to chicken out many a times in the movie, allowing the women to take the lead. This is his success indeed, the director’s courage and boldness to treat the character of Karthi differently with shades of realistic feelings of a normal human being!

Ofcourse, as is his wont, Selvaraghavan brings in the dimensions of sexual perversions to Karthi’s character, just to cater to the needs of his male audience. Though, this is the dimension that the many of the movie-goers would have found lovable! Moving a step ahead of his usual male characters in the earlier movies like Thullavatho Ilamai, Kathal Konden and 7G Rainbow Colony, the director has even managed to make Karthi seem like a dormant rapist who would vent out his sexual energies on Reema anytime in the best available opportunity. You couldn’t let go of your male fantasies of raping a woman in order to teach her a lesson, could you Mr. Selvaragavan? How could you let go of it when that is what keeps the entire section of the male audience going up in cheers in the auditorium? And do you know that such characters in the movie will only entrench the cruel minds of the men in our society with sexual violence and oppression that are already infested with male chauvinism?

However, this time, the interesting aspect of Selvaraghavan’s piece of work is the refreshing touch to his women characters which gives a breath of relief. Probably, this is the first Tamil movie in which the leading women drink and dance around with a bottle of alcohol. Something which even the acclaimed directors like Maniratnam and Gautam Vasudeva Menon would have flinched to show in their so called urban movies in fear of the negative reaction of the conservative Tamil audience. Very surprising and refreshing that Selvaraghavan has managed to achieve it with élan and grace! Also, the way both the women slap Karthi left and right is yet another unconventionality that has been handled well with poise by the director. In addition, the roles of Reema and Andrea have been portrayed unconventionally, though towards the end in the second half, one of the characters meander into the much beaten track and the other loses its momentum and screen space to the other important characters. The leading women have done their best to do justice to their roles. Where has Reema been all along in Tamil cinema? Reema makes a mark throughout the movie with her apt expressions and bold acts. Sad that the new version of the movie has many of her scenes deleted! The sword fight with Parthiban and the classical song about Tanjore and its lost Chola dynasty that are testimonies to Reema’s hard work have been removed from the movie. Were those deletions really intended, so as to give a booster to the role of Karthi by trimming down Reema’s role which otherwise would have had more prominence in the movie? Quite possible in the male dominated tinsel town! Andrea is quite a revelation in the movie. She has a significant role who leads the gang to the destination, warning them ahead of the possible dangers that exist en route. Her understated liking for Karthi and her revulsion towards him when he assaults Reema sexually have been portrayed with care and subtlety. This adds finesse to her character that is well etched too!

The technical brilliance shines through out in the movie barring few scenes. Be it the camera angles or the cinematography, these aspects have managed to deliver the mood and essence of the movie well. Although, in some of the scenes, the graphics employed has played spoilsport by giving an immature look to the movie, overall the movie has transcended beyond the boundaries set by Tamil movies. Another let down is the sets of Chola town that fails to look like the ruins of the lost civilization. Instead, it has the scattered gold shining, making the town seem like an amateur stage set. It does not even wear the looks of ruins to look like a place that is a decade old, leave alone several centuries old!

And after the story enters into the dark spaces of the hidden civilization that is at least eight hundred years old, the movie gains a different dimension and veers towards the game of hatred, vengeance and redemption. The stark realities of human civilization have been captured well in the movie. The hatred that would survive through several years and generations, only to be vented out at the opportunistic moment is portrayed well. Though, seems unbelievable at certain moments, it only proves the time tested cruelty of human minds. Another interesting angle of the movie is that it gives an opportunity to compare and contrast the ancient and modern civilizations in the same platform. The story line goes a step ahead to showcase the harsh reality that the ancient civilization has evolved into a modern and sophisticated only in its lifestyle, but the cruelty, oppression, hatred and the hunger for power have stayed intact in its raw form in the human society through its many centuries of evolutuion. If the other society that is stuck in times that trace several hundred years back releases its anger and hatred through brutal and cruel games, the modern society which plays with the lives of marginalized does not differ much from its ancient counterpart in its power games. The suffering of Karthi and his group of workers in the hands of the military men is a standing testimony to the unbalanced power equation in the society. Later, in the sequences where the captured Cholas are tortured and killed by the army people, the power equation gains a new dimension in the movie to portray the shocking reality that power is only a volatile thing.

The other interesting element of the movie is the language that is used to depict the Chola lifestyle. For years, Tamil movie goers have been cheated by the movie makers who have employed modern literary Tamil for the depiction of ancient tongue spoken by the kings in their movies. Especially in the ones that eulogizes the lives of kings and queens of Tamil Nadu such as Raja Raja Cholan and Veera Pandiya Kattabomman. Thanks to the in-depth research carried out by Selvaraghavan, we get to hear the real ancient Tamil not in its literary form but in a unique functional form. May be flawed to an extent, the attempt and the attention that the director has paid to the detail deserves an applause. Also, it may be the first of its kind movie in the history of Tamil Cinema which has had the courage to depict the darker sides of the Kings. Added to that, the way Selvaraghavan handles the story without taking sides to any of the kingdoms or any of the characters, enable the movie to rise above the conventions and norms that the Tamil cinema is used to. Rather the protagonists shape up themselves based on the situations and survival instinct forms the main element that aids in the development of their characters in the movie as the story unfolds. However, you wish Reema’s cahracer had been handled with little more care and elegance, as at times it gives a feeling that the director has done injustice to the character only because it is played by a woman.

May be, Aayirathil Oruvan is flawed and follows a safer path at many instances. And in some of the scenes it leaves you with a sense of déjà vu. It is clear that these scenes have derived its inspiration from some of the popular Hollywood movies. Despite these shortcomings, the movie is a must watch at least for its sheer experience. And if you are an ardent movie buff, then it is definitely one of those movies that should not be given a miss for its interesting story that is part fantasy and part adventure, and its unconventional characterization that is hard to be seen often in Tamil movies.