First, a pedestal for Selvaraghavan’s Aayirathil Oruvan just like the one put up here for Peter Jackson’s King Kong.

Fantasy genre is a very special one. Just like Harry Potter lineup, if you don’t get into the movie, your brain starts questioning how Harry Potter didn’t hit on the brick wall when trying to walk through a pillar in the train station. Not all of us are hardwired for such instant leap of faith. Cutting down such crap with which reviews usually begin and starts to bore us with such psychological theories that the reviewer referred to before writing the review, Aayirathil Oruvan is a kickass film that should be enjoyed in a full screen without uttering a single word to the next seater. All you might know, he might have already taken the leap of faith and immersed in the movie and you are just thinking, how the hell can lightning strike on karthi while being blessed.

In any case, AO has stupendous writing, great pace, wonderful camera, immaculate art and costumes and ofcourse an apt finish to the neat start. The movie hasnt been pulled off just by the different landscape or thoughtful subtexts in screenplay but by the actors who have made us believe that the movie could be a true story.

And yes, the critics say that it has tinges of Gladiator and every other historical fantasy they have seen so far. Sure. For that matter, King Kong had big influences from Titanic and Jurassic Park. It was still considered as a herculean effort. And Selvaraghavan needs to be lauded for pulling it off with limited resources.

Above all that the movie kept me glued to the screen throughout the length of the movie. It was paisa vasool and I felt I should have paid a few more bucks for entertaining me thoroughly. Not a single movie after Virumandi had me tied up so badly. If you are crazy enough, you would love Aayirathil Oruvan. I pity the ones who hated it. You just missed an interesting piece of Tamil Cinema for who knows how long you would have to wait for another movie as gripping as this. SORRY!

Naan Kadavul didn’t strike a chord in me. It was a typical Bala movie aimed at making wet hankies over a hyped and pointless story. The whole concept of Aham Brahmasmi was wrongly used and preached. The only saving grace was the clandestine black humor in Jeyamohan’s dialogues and the amazing ‘acting’ of the ‘real’ mendicants.

Aarya was terribly artificial. Ajith would have been a worst choice. It’s time Bala starts making real movies instead of hashing out the same sethu-type characters and Pithamahan type storylines.

Just like Sethu, Subramaniyapuram and ParuthiVeeran where the directors bagged on capitalizing the viewer by making him cry, Naan Kadavul uses the beggar underworld. The beggar world is certainly a revelation and this subplot could have impacted millions had it been made into a full fledged movie or even a documentary.

And if you think I’m wrong for the first time, I’m not. I’ve committed this mistake of starting a bala flame war earlier, although unintentionally. Head here for more.

The movie sucks. Someone lend Gautham, a book on screen writing.

Was it good?
Actually, It was better than good. It wasn’t just right there but this is probably what could be done, given the frantic screenplay.

Story?
Watch it, to believe it.

Screenplay?
Neat effort. Could have been better given that most of us have watched non-linear screenplays like Crash and Babel, firsthand from Hollywood. Nevertheless, a cool effort. Sujatha’s dramatic touches at various places.

Music?
uuuvey !!

Peformance?
Thoda :) It’s a Kamalhassan film.

Favorite Performance ?

In the order of favorites- The CBI officer(amazing slang), Mottai Paati, Annaachi, Fletcher and so on until Avtaar Singh.

Dialogues ?
Brilliant at times, Egotripping at times. Could find traces of Sujatha and Crazy Mohan. I’m sure they have their contribution all over the place.

Worst ?
Kamal’s make-up fetish.

Best ?
Kamal playing the paati’s role with atmost ease, Poovaraagan’s Thirunelveli slang, Fletcher’s perfect American slang, screenplay and overall execution.

Anything else ?
Don’t decide about the movie right after watching it. Sleep over it. With a complex, sometimes confusing and not-to-so-logically exciting screenplay, to make a decision immediately wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

What the heck, let me say it, I liked it !!

Just like Santhosh Subramaniam, I haven’t seen the original Telugu version. But I couldn’t believe that Selvaraghavan can get so damn boring with his screenplays.

The first half of YNM literally begs for a good screenplay writer. It just drags and drags and starts to sleep midway. The second half of this family-romance is where they teach audience the proven effective ways of kaalai kadan.

The trio, Dhanush, Karthik Kumar and Nayan are boring thanks to their bad characterization and pathetic dialogues. Udit Narayan’s rendering of Yengeyo Paartha Nyabhagam and Nenjai Kasakki is sprinkled with bad Tamil pronunciation, though the songs are very tuneful.

The only good thing about the movie is that is starts very naturally and ends in a similar fashion. Everything in-between is a huge heap of mess. Tamil Cinema still awaits a realistic portrayal of a software engineer’s life.