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Friday, February 6, 2015

YENNAI ARINTHAAL - (YA = (VAV+KK+VA))

(YA = (VAV+KK+VA))

Cast: - Ajith Kumar – Satya Dev, Arun Vijay – Victor, Trisha Krishnan – Hemanika, Anushka Shetty – Thenmozhi, Vivek – Revolver Richard & many others

& Crew: - Direction- Gautham Vasudev Menon, Writing Credits – Thiagarajan Kumararaja & Sridhar Rajan, D.O.P – Dan Macarthur, Music – Harris Jayaraj, Edit – Anthony, Art – Rajeevan

Producers: Aishwarya & A.M.Rathnam

VETTAI ADU VILLAYADU Raghavan (Kamal Hassan), a top cop from the Tamil Nadu Police Department is faced with a series of rapes and brutal murders including those of his boss's family. The culprits are found soon enough but prove extremely evasive while they continue their murderous legacy undeterred.

KAKKHA KAKKHA - After a police team kills his brother, a drug-dealing gangster vows to kill the entire team and their respective families.

VARRANAM AAYARAM - ………… The romance is swiftly followed by an extended period of professional and personal uncertainty, in which the son turns back to father figures to help him get back on his feet and seek out his true calling. Well made, though overlong film, reportedly autobiographical about the director's own relationship with his father.

YENNAI ARINTHAAL – Is a rehash of the 3 films and nothing more. It is the sheer screen presence of Ajith which keeps the first half going. I wonder why a director with a good track record remakes his own films in parts. Is this because of his insecurity or pressure to handle a big star like Ajith or does he presume that the viewers are such idiots to lap up anything a successful director has on offer! Why don’t big stars like Ajith, Vijay, Suryaa and the likes ever employ a team of writers/viewers/critics to wet their scripts! The premise of this film is so loose and full of holes that it simply has no credible screen play at all. In fact after a while you simply get resigned to the fact that you will have to necessarily sit through 3 hours of torture only to watch Ajith under the direction of Gautham Vasudeva Menon. Let’s now look at the premise – Sathyadev (Ajith) is a D.S.P who works undercover eliminating all the rowdy elements in the city single handed. A ‘desi’ version of Dirty Harry (Clint Eastwood). Sathyadev in the first half falls for Anushka who he is supposed to protect from organ harvesting. Why do the goons led by Arun Vijay select Anushka returning from the U.S. for harvesting her heart? The director has an overly simple and illogical answer – Anushka’s height and weight! Absolutely ridiculous! Anyways Anushka as usual falls for the handsome though aging Ajith. Here again the director has to support Ajith by inserting a dialogue through the mind voice of Anushka as she is sitting next to him on the flight “Lucky you! Sitting next to such a handsome hulk” looking all coy and shy etc… Come on Gautham grow up and face today’s real world. Will a young girl instantly fall for an aging guy like Ajith (even if he is good looking) and stalk him till kingdom come! After she literally forces Ajith to fall for her the director this time around takes you on a nonsensical flash back mode. Here it is Ajith’s turn to stalk Hemanika (Trisha) a divorcee with a kid (girl). Why does Gautham have this continuing fetish to compel divorcees to fall in love? Another favorite play of Gautham is the father sentiment! Here Nasser plays the dad’s role who continues to be the guiding to Sathyadev even after his demise!  Trisha’s destitute kid here again the director torments the poor kid as she is initially pushed to accept Ajith as her new father (no compelling reason given by the director) and subsequently forces to accept Anushka as her mother too! This is absolutely absurd and defies any kind of emotional logic. The little girl in question does not seem to age at all in spite of advancing years while Ajith ages with all his salt and pepper look etc. Arun Vijay is part of the flashback as Ajith spends time in jail as an undercover cop and betrays him to clean society of all evil doers and organ peddlers. Subsequently Arun Vijay teams up with his wife to wreak revenge on Sathyadev and those who love him dearly forms the rest of the story. The dialogues simply lacked the punch!

& the climax ends in the usual good vanquishing evil with the BG of good the bad and the ugly playing in the background. Ashish Vidyarthi plays a miniscule part in this insipid and bland climax!

Ajith – the main stay in this whole film mesmerizes you with his sheer screen presence, charming demeanor and smile. Though unfortunately the director has simply failed to use this actor to his potential and in fact at the very end of the film Ajith bores you with repetitive acts and disjointed delivery of dialogues! The director simply fails to up his performance!

Trisha – WOW! Simply stands out! Her grace, elegance, her carry simply makes you fall in love with her performance. She utters only a few words but her expressions and eyes speak for her! Her dress sense is worth a mention! Here again the director should never have cast her as danseuse instead a yoga instructor might have enhanced her performance and looks even more!

Anushka – Looks jaded and worn out! The less said the better.

Arun Vijay – Has essayed his part quite well but I though his histrionics in certain parts could have been controlled. I hope this hard working actor gets a good break after this film. He deserves it!

Vivek – The comedian in his comeback role is absolutely confused about his role in this film. Whether to be serious or light hearted. Till the very end he remains in this crossroad of uncertainty!

The rest also ran!

D.O.P – Good work! I somehow felt that the director’s premise and shoddy screen play undermined the camera work.

Music- Harris Jayaraj – Is the most annoying factor in this film. I think his finger simply got stuck to the keyboard while composing the BG score for this film.

Edit – The work is adequate. Needs a 45 minute cut!

Stunts – The usual!

Bottom line: - A mismatched rehash which simply fails on all fronts! In one word – A boring film!

Finally a Quote: - “The pressure of handling big stars can weigh very heavily even on a time tested director and bring him down with a painful thud.”

P.S. By the way! Where were the 2 script writers hiding! Probably still working on the script!

 My Rating: 2/5

Until Next Time,
Director Haricharan

6/2/2015

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