Before I begin, I want to take a moment to get this out of my system.
The ad for Aayirathil Oruvan calls it “in the league of The Mummy Returns and Avatar”.
All right Einsteins, Avatar and The Mummy Returns were certainly not in the same league in the first place.
Nor is the cheap CG-infested Aayirathil Oruvan.
Not by the wildest stretch of imagination are these three films in the same league but that’s understandable because Aayirathil was made at a fraction of the budget of the spectacular Avatar or the B-grade no-brainer called The Mummy Returns.
The thing about Twitter is that you get only 140 characters to get to the point and most of the time, two lines aren’t enough to explain the point.
When I wrote that the first half of the film and the second half of the film are of contrasting genres – the first being a B-movie adventure (that works because of the chemistry and sexual tension between the trio) and the second half turning into a dark, Chosen One epic war film, I didn’t really mean to say that’s the problem.
From Dusk Till Dawn and Teen Deewarein are fine examples of completely changing genre halfway and pulling the rug from right below your feet. So I don’t really have a problem with a filmmaker choosing to change genre halfway. The problem is that the filmmaker here has no idea of how to do it smart.
In fact, the problem with Aayirathil is more basic – why does the filmmaker spend half a film investing on chemistry between three people when the interplay between them is not at all relevant to the outcome of the film because well, the storyteller is to lazy to continue that story now that he has found another interesting one to tell halfway?
And why does the filmmaker not understand that the fantasy genre also requires an internal logic. Yes, Superman can also do quite a few things without any explanation and we buy it. Why? Because we also know what can stop Superman – Kryptonite.
We know not just what is possible but also what’s not. The world of fantasy is defined by the scope of the possibilities and exceptions to those possibilities.
In Avatar, we know humans can bomb the hell out of Pandora but we also know they cannot breathe without masks. We know they can fly their machines anywhere into Pandora but we also know that because of the flux vortex, the radars will not work and the machines will have to fly by sight. We know the Eywa can heal but we also know she cannot bring back the dead. And so on…
In Aayirathil Oruvan, characters have magical powers to kinky things like shadow-sex and get a comet or asteroid to set dolls on fire or bring back the dead but suddenly, they also don’t have these magical powers when they need to save themselves from bullets or bombs!
What’s even more silly about this supernatural adventure is that the conflict of the film does not call for supernatural elements or magic.
A Chola king sends off his little Prince along with his people to hide at an undisclosed location when attacked by the Pandias.
Centuries later, a team sets out to a remote island on an adventure, crosses seven hurdles (traps created by the Cholas) and find the lost civilization living in starvation and history repeats itself.
Nothing wrong with the story at all.
What’s wrong is the screenplay – something that requires specialised training and it’s high time Selvaraghavan got himself equipped with the art of screenwriting or employed specialists to do the job for him because he is a gifted filmmaker capable of creating unforgettable moments.
Selva employs three characters to lead the adventure – one’s the woman on a mission, another’s an archeologist in search of her father and the third is the modern day version of a slave. Interesting dynamics between the sexes as sexual tension and chemistry keeps the narrative cruising along the seven hurdles (all shot with B-movie flourish and cheesy computer graphics)… And suddenly, after they reach their destination, the three go crazy because of high intensity sound waves that make their ears bleed…
And the three actors who until this point were sticking to realistic acting (except for an unwarranted cuss-word exchange in English by the leading ladies) switch into over-the-top hammy portrayal of the mentally ill (it’s like a Mani Ratnam film suddenly handed over to K.S. Ravikumar at this point) and the film never quite recovers from this switch in sensibility.
To add to the period setting, there’s plenty of mumbo-jumbo, medieval rituals and an absolute lack of characterisation. Apart from the king and his advisor, an old man with a serious skin disease, nobody in that civilization seems to have a personality… his subjects are all dark savages with hardly any dialogue.
Suddenly, the woman with the agenda (Reema) seems to have acquired magic powers of her own as she takes her top off and produces a tiger tattoo on her back that appears and disappears. And the slave (Karthi) who also has a tiger tattoo on his back conveniently turns out to be the Chosen One.
One moment, the Chosen One is pissed upon by an urchin and a moment of bad visuals effects and hallucinations later, he turns a warrior and rides a rock-shaped yoyo to slay the gladiator and does a dance with a king – that one sequence bonding is entrusted with the responsibility of convincing us that the Chosen One is now one among the natives.
What about the third character we invested in? Well, Andrea finds her father instantly in the second half and but for a couple of scenes, she has nothing to do with the story. The father himself (Prathap Pothen), now a loony man has nothing to contribute to the script.
The film by now has turned into a full-fledged conflict between the Cholas and the Pandias reincarnate – a modern battle between primitive savages and state of the art ammunition with the Chosen One getting to do absolutely nothing! Why was he the Chosen One then?
Just to take the young Prince and run again to bring the story to a full circle! Ha!
Individual performances are not too bad at all. Karthi is brilliant, he makes the first half of the film work with sheer presence.
Reema has never looked hotter and Parthipan though over the top manages to entertain with some charming quips in chaste Tamil (the Linga Darisanam, for example). Andrea is totally forgotten in the second half of the film and has nothing to except to conveniently open up everyone’s handcuffs in the climax. The music, especially, the score is quite interesting, a job well done by the kid who stepped into Yuvan’s shoes for a film of this scale.
What’s been pissing me off is that a few fanboys are trying to convince everyone else who do not agree with them that it’s their fault that they didn’t understand and/or had different expectations. The film’s not that difficult to understand. It’s plays out like a bad dream without logic – you understand what’s going on but also know that it’s stupid that it’s happening.
Don’t confuse issues here, fellows… Selva made a film with balls and utmost conviction. So did Ram Gopal Varma when he remade Sholay as RGV Ki Aag. Effort or daring to walk a road not taken alone does not make a movie a classic. It needs to be executed well too.
I gave a 3/10 rating to the first version of the film because the second half turned into a completely irrelevant, indulgent film altogether that had nothing to do with the first half of the film (by which time we had invested heavily on the three characters).
The smartest thing Selva has done is to understand that he did go overboard and trim the film by over 15 minutes. This contributed to a better flow and removal of a lot of the flab and made me give him with an extra 1.5 points taking it to 4.5/10 being the best this film can be.
This does not mean my rating will increase with every watch. It means I am rewarding him for understanding that he fucked up the narrative.
The film works somewhat as a collection of some fun moments in the first half that work as a B-movie adventure and some wonderful dark imagery (the breast spurting out blood for example) in the second but never as a whole which is why 4.5 is the most it will ever get.
Yet, the film can be watched once since it at least tries to tell a different story. Don’t go with any expectations whatsoever.
MADRAS INK. 
it’s like a Mani Ratnam film suddenly handed over to K.S. Ravikumar at this point)///
Just couldn’t stop laughing after reading this line.
Decent review overall and totally agree with the last line. It can be watched once since it’s different from the other run on the mill commercial so called entertainers. Cheers 🙂
Just couldn’t stop laughing all the way through this review – great one, as usual !! by the way, we are waiting for the MNIK review.
I am gonna watch the movie tomorrow and I will make sure that I have my expectations below par. You are right about SR being a good director but not a great script writer
It disappointed me after the first watching, but looking back on it makes it a classic of sorts (especially after reading the story on Wikipedia). Haha, talk about failure of script to screen.
Yeah, he did totally fuck up the screenplay towards the second half with the shadow sex being easily one of the most cringe-able moments in Tamil film history but the Reemma/Parthiban sequences worked well barring that.
I agree with you when you say that the film has a couple of interesting moments. What I couldn’t understand is that how Selvaraghavan wanted audiences to believe that the Cholas could become barbarians when we have been taught that they were one of the greatest civilizations that flourished.
Frankly, I think Selvaraghavan has tried to define new levels of what it means to be a “true” pseudo intellectual by directing this movie.
Selvaraghavan in his recent interview confessed that the young chozha kid, the lone survivor was Aayirathil Oruvan and not Karthi. And he said he has plans for a sequel. He has to do a lot of homework if the sequel is on.
Nice review…
I went with no expectations after reading many reviews, and felt like a better one to me…
Let me make an attempt to answer your questions in the review.
Why does the filmmaker spend half a film investing on chemistry between three people when the interplay between them is not at all relevant to the outcome of the film because well, the storyteller is to lazy to continue that story now that he has found another interesting one to tell halfway?
-First of all, The film is a thriller and has lot of twists. If every scene has to have relevance for outcome, then there can’t be any suspense at all. Also the filmmaker didn’t spend investing on chemistry with love or friendship, it happened with such a strong narration. As per story itself, three people didn’t expect the cholas to still survive and live. So, when they found it, the story has to take different route only.
And why does the filmmaker not understand that the fantasy genre also requires an internal logic. Why?
-It has internal logic. They have been taught vedas to fire doll only not for saving against bullets. It’s not only logic as per this movie, but also of tamil myth & beliefs. They are not magicians. They learnt those specific things from their ancestors
What about the third character we invested in?
-Every character cannot be given equal importance entirely. The third one has its own importance. She only leads and guides the troop with the help of her knowledge and vedas.
The film by now has turned into a full-fledged conflict between the Cholas and the Pandias reincarnate – a modern battle between primitive savages and state of the art ammunition with the Chosen One getting to do absolutely nothing! Why was he the Chosen One then?
He was the Chosen One to save their race which he does at the end. Also, he leads them in the war with strategy. Even in Avatar, Jake sully is the chosen one and does nothing other than leading the ‘blue monkeys”. It has no logic with help coming from
But I do agree, it has other minor logical flaws. And take for instance, we can argue for any movie like that.
4.5 rating is not at all justified for those minor flaws. The film deserves minimum 8.5 rating for its amazing screenplay and performances.
You know what separates a dream from a story? Think about it and you will know why your arguments are fundamentally flawed.
A dream can take any route out, a story has a certain structure and is about characters… You can’t have three people who know each other and share a certain history never exchange a line or two or give a damn about each other’s fate in the second half of the film. That again is fundamentally flawed. Your understanding of structure is too limited for me to argue with your further. So you can insult a filmmaker’s potential by celebrating mediocrity and I choose to respect his potential and observe he can go much much more than this half-baked story that plays out like a bad dream without continuity!
A fanboy comment,so ignore if it goes overboard…
I personally felt,that the second half was more convincing and i’m happy to see a story staying true to,or infact appreciating the way we ve been told stories for ages… the second half is a classic imo…
And people bashing this film for the logic inconsistencies,bla bla shud know this…If watching a film fr 3 hrs can make u feel smart enough to tel the director on how shud hav he made it.. Wat abt this guy, living with the film fr 3 years…Of course he knows wat he s doing and wat hes showing in his film…
Watching a few international films does n’t make any1 smart..does it?
And worse is comparing our films to hollywood films and their storytelling… They dont even have a history before 200yrs…Does tech advancement make ’em gud enough to set the ground rules fr scriptwriting??
We have been passing on our stories this way for generations and with this film i got to know it still holds gud…
Opinion differs and thats the beauty of it.Ppl lik me might appreciate a film and call evry scene a masterpiece..And for the sake of us, selva u tell ur stories the way u want too…
A: This film is flawed because of a. b. and c. reasons
B: But I like it.
A: Ok.
Also, please do not assume that all of Indian mythology was this flawed!
In fact, our stories have had the most complex plots and fascinating subplots (all of them relevant) intertwined to bring out the conflict. If you’ve been told stories without a proper explanation on why things happened, blame the person who told them to you in the first place.
Films are not about stories. They are about storytelling. If you just wanted to know the story, you can read the Wikipedia entry for the film and not watch it.
And storytelling as far as cinema is concerned is a very different form than the form your Grandmother told you as a child because she can reach out and hit you on the head with her bare knuckles if you are not paying attention to her story.
Cinema is barely 80 years old here and hence, we have a lot of catching up to do with the West and it will be an uphill climb if we stop and celebrate mediocrity! Let a filmmaker see he messed up and learn from his flaws instead of turning him more arrogant. A guy like Selvaraghavan is capable of much better cinema. Like Kamal Haasan said, our filmmakers are like street dancers. They have some great moves but if you ask them to do something else, they ll do another variation of the same old moves. Do not underestimate the need for training. Training helps you understand the basics. If Selva can do so much without any sort of training, imagine what all he can do with solid grounding on the basics of story, structure, character graphs…
And stories aren’t too different the world over, we are more similar than you think. Heard about the monomyth? So don’t get all parochial here. If you want to discuss and deconstruct myths, stories and structures, I suggest reading Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces. It’s a book that inspired Star Wars, The Matrix etc. Will give you some idea about the mythic structure.
And as for someone spending 3 years with his film, RGV did that too with RGV Ki Aag. Will you celebrate it just on that account?
If you are willing to spend your money on films with effort, send me some. I spent 7 years making my film two and a half times with 3 and a half lakh rupees.
So I know all about effort.
Effort does not amount to anything because the guy paying money for the ticket frankly doesn’t give a damn!
Whoa..i guess ur 1st reply was spot on ..
instances of the movie sometimes hooks ppl and convince them to see the way the dir wants ’em to…tats the way movies hav worked fr me..wen a critic goes lik ,tis movie s too contrived fr its scope or utter lack of char developmnt fr a movie lik harold and kumar or austin powers..I cant help but think wtf s wrong wit this guy..y does some1 need to put tis kinda analysis into every movie..
I’m just a 20 yr old who loves variety and does n’t want an anurag kashyap’s approach, to a situation, be in noway similar to a PT Anderson’s..if selva is raw ,so be it..
And one more thing is if stanley kubrick is hailed as a master who has given great movies in all together diff genres..Down south ,our very own sridhar has done that..Maybe not visually astounding,but still…
Maybe wit age i ll get to know better…will surely catch up tflw and post my xperience(my bad,not yet seen it)..
This is a really great review… especially the same thing is pissing me off too.. people telling me i dont understand the movie.. when well. i know whats going on.. and i dont like it!
Three cheers!! 🙂
Sudhish… The old man doesnt have skin disease… remember in the first scene The Chola king hands the prince to the old man and says wait till i send word?? Its the same old man… Age shrinks his skin!!
Grrrrr! Never mind. I hate to explain a joke.
And Reema’s magic power is completely explained!!!
Nice to see many people appreciating a different attempt by someone. Never seen so many arguments against a review by sunderman. But i still agree with the fact that movie could have been a world better considering the freshness in the story.
I appreciate the attempt too, admire and respect his vision to do something different. But I didn’t entirely like the film. I maintain it works in parts and was cursed with an undercooked script.
shooting snakes…never knew when a place rains with snakes, one could get away by just shooting them…in the last scene we see karthik getting invisible in front of the soldiers eyes to protect the “ayirathil oruvan”…whatever happened for protecting the present king…parthi”bun”
Hate to even write a comment for this movie…It completely ruined my Pongal day evening out.Will never forget that Mr.Selva Raghavan!!!!
Selvaraghavan has always been a “inspirational ” movie director…means atleast 10 movies of any language should “inspire”him so that he can make a single Tamil film.
It seeems DVDs have control over director Selvaraghavan’s life..! First he discontinued his BE half way…then directed his father’s movie by proxy..then mixed Quyamat se Quyamat and Guna and made Kadhal Kondein..then directed his autobiography 7G, then tried Godfather,Casino,Goodfellas in Pudhupet…..So far he is Ok like any other director in Tamil….
Now he wanted to think BIG.There is a new found reputation in the market that Selva is a great director…in Mani ratnam’s league etc..(Why dirctor’s calibre always measured with Mani ratnam scale in this Industry? strange! ).
In the last 5 years there were lot of epic /or fantacy movies from the west poring in.. such as Lord of the Rings triology,Pirates of the Carribean triology,Harry Potter series , Narnia series etc..
Now our film”shooter” thought whynot an epic movie in tamil? for our own aam tamil junta?Not to mention he had already been inspired with movies such as Meckanna’s Gold,Apocalypse now,Gladiator and Indiana Jones series…etc
So now with all these movies in mind he looks for the local subject to develope and finally settles down with Chola/Pandiya rivalry..and made a MESS of it!!!!
Movie’s authenticity is lost by miscasting.
Tamil pronunciation of Reema’s character in the second half just ruined the movie. May be Selvaraghavan had consulted Vairamuthu for the old scripts of Tamil…but they both failed to reallize that present audience cannot understand that old version….so why forgot to put tamil sub-titles? Or did they forget it purposefully as the “so called” older version of tamil is so fake? Alas no tamil pandits are coming forward to tarnish this audacity..! All Vairramuthu&Co know of is ” Eeru Ketta Ethir Marai Peyarechham” of the tamil grammar?and not willing to explain it in the movie?
Other than that every character in this movie do their regulars..
…Karthi does his Uneducated rowdy act
…Reema Sen exposes..and with Selva’s help exposes more!
…Andrea does nothing as always!
… Parthiban dances his favourite “Saavu molam” Dance Once again ..this time in the name of Chola!
…PrathapBothan does his Cranky “1/2 Loosu”act yet again quiet successfully!
…G.V.Prakash successfully ‘cuts’ a bit from “Jab we Met’s”Bhangra song Nagaada baja for Cholas..
Selva’s Imagination excells when he converts “Meckanna’s Gold’s” shadow scene….Here shadow in Lord Nataraja’s form!!!!
Ada pongappaa…! Exhausted!!!!
wow !! better than the review, sorry sudhish 😉
Clyvin you seem to have hatred for Selva and your review proves that.
Predetermined review.
Why don’t you criticize a Manirathnam movie for he literally copies the story.
It doesn’t mean I’m against Mani but don’t discourage talent.
Shrinath I don’t favour anyone…its just a fact that I had genuinly felt ditched by watching this 1000-thil 1-Van movie!!
Because just like you, I had also expected a lot out of this movie…because of various factors..such as the hype its generated,TV promos,Karthi’s snake acts in TV,Audio promos,news about Vairamuthu’s work of older tamil diction,Andrea’s song(though its not there in movie),Selva’s intrigue etc…..After seeing the movie all gone FUTT!!!
I was really looking forward some “Proud moments” for a “Marathamizhan” in this movie..as this movie is about our Tamilian ancestors who were Royals! But…but did Selvaraghavan made Tamilians or their ancestors proud?? Is there any PROUD moment for a tamilian to cherish?!
What did he show in this movie?? Rivalry between tamilians…Tamilians killing or trying to abolish fellow tamilians…and its continuing till date…Is it really happenning today?? Or if he relates the story for today’s life …does Madurai people have rivalry with Thanjavur people? Even if they don’t have that feeling they are going to get some negative vibes…while looking at this picture….! So does this do any good for a tamilian harmony??
Or does he means rivalry between “Sinhalas” or Tamilans in Srilanka? In that case why he has to show Sinhalas as Pandiyas? In any case he shows Pandyas as Villainious People..Does People in and around Madurai/Tirunelveli not get offended?.Does this do any good for Tamilian’s harmony??
I don’t understand one more thing…Why In a rape scene the ‘Gilli’ song “Appadipodu” was played in background? Does that show Selvaraghavan’s hatred towards “Kuthu” song or does he really “enjoys’ the “inner meaning” of that lyric and thinking “that” song “exactly suits” for the situation?? How rude and ugly thinking it will be?!
And what is the necessity of showing a lady squeezing her b…s and blood coming out…?
What about Older tamil lady’s ” Naanam,madam achham and Payirpu”?….
I don’t care if you are related to Selva or his work…I have written what i had felt…that is I DID NOT LIKE this movie! and I don’t like a director who treats all his audience as Wooden pieces!
Since you mentioned Maniratnam….for your kind information I don’t like Maniratnam either..! I liked Mani and Selva when they were innocent at the earlier stage of their career…! My liking towards them switched away when they become manipulative..!!!
Sorry to hurt you…but don’t take it to heart!!
PS: Was that you at mayajaal on Pongal day who kept clapping through out the movie and kept saying “sooooopper da” ??? No wonder!
😉 ;P
“Was that you at mayajaal on Pongal day who kept clapping through out the movie and kept saying “sooooopper da” ??? No wonder!
😉 ;P”
No I don’t have the habit of clapping in movies and don’t even like people whispering in between movies too.
“Sorry to hurt you…but don’t take it to heart!!”
Don’t mind as you got liberty to express your views.
“Selvaraghavan made Tamilians or their ancestors proud?? Is there any PROUD moment for a tamilian to cherish?!”
Yeah there are moments.
1) Discipline:
When the king takes on his subjects for them trying to sizzle a piece of flesh without abiding by the rules.
2) Bravery: At gun point the king says ” Indha padaikalathin peyar enna, idhai patri thaan vilakkavae illayae, achapaduvom endru iyama ? ”
” Or if he relates the story for today’s life …does Madurai people have rivalry with Thanjavur people? Even if they don’t have that feeling they are going to get some negative vibes…while looking at this picture….! So does this do any good for a tamilian harmony?”
This is not gonna affect Tamilian ceremony in any sense. If people can criticize a movie for its plot then why don’t you criticize Nayagan????
After watching Nayagan did people start taking responsibility like Velu Naicker ?
If you would criticize Nayagan also , then sorry I’m not ready to proceed into further rounds of discussion.
Hii Srinath,
I cant understand how foolish of u to eat Selva’s crap!!
He has done no home work!! stealing bits and pieces from here and there
ex: 300 ( i can quote 4 clear instances), gladiator), ‘Nandini’ character from Ponniyin selvan.. etc and some more extra indiana jones adventure stealing doesnt make any sense!!
This is injustice.. to tamil (the value and culture of Chola-Pandya), Indian army, (IPKF), even the LTTE they were better!!
I will take a movie where a pschyopath asks his to be wife to sleep with everyone and takes movie abt it and then marries her (dono if he sleeps with her) and then divorces for another b*… pls watch it and call it adventure!!
Totally disappointed with your comments
I could feel you have some hatred in selva from your words
Everyone makes mistakes but why we blow out in bigger proportion which in turn affects theatre collection
Also we must respect their 2 years of hardwork in trying out new subject which nobody in TN have dared
Ok eventhough if you feel the film is not up to the mark, pls dont make fun out of them personally (eg, Parthiban – “saavu molam” Prathap pothan “1/2 loosu” G.V.Prakash “Copy cat” Reema “Exposing”)
After reading your comment real tamil person would shed blood tears just like the chola tribal lady’s blood from bosom in the film
I suspect you are not from the roots of tamilnadu
Am i right?
Ok
Pardon me if i have hurt anybuddies.
Note: Expect a reply from expert Sudhish sir.
Mani Rizzi Corleone
Mani,
People have every right to love or hate a film with the same intensity. But what I believe is this: That any film that brings out both extreme reactions deserves a watch because there was something in it after all that provoked people. Movies must move/provoke and by that standards, AO works. It’s flawed… yes, but like I said in my conclusion it must be watched with no expectations whatsoever.
Hahahaha. Did you watch Mayakkam Enna yet? A great film you might hate cuz of Selva. Pretty much every film director has copied from other movies or even texts. Kurosawa copied Shakespear. James Cameron has been notorious for stealing scripts, making Avatar from Pochahontas and a Russian novel without giving any credits. But it became a hit. If you look in this way you see. Every movie ever made is a rip off.
Which movies do you appreciate actually? Seen Uthiripookal and Mullum Malarum? Bro Selva has some talents, just not utilizing it properly and relying on poor editing and horrible CGI. Other than that, he’s a true filmmaker.
Thou art utterly heartless! interesting title, opening lines.. it’s way too long for a post yaar! raat ko saade do baje ko jab insaan kuch padna chahta hai bilkul yeh tera post galat choice hai yaar.. thoda smaller posts bhi likho bhai!
And thou artless sethji. Nee Veer dekho setttu!
Spicy 😀
I am not sure if anyone here noticed the similarities between AO and Full Metal Jacket. Not comparing the quality. But I have a feeling that both the films have 2 different halves with little or no connection between them? Also the story(FMJ) shifts towards the lone journo – private in the second half from after we get to see a weird friendship between him and that fat private?
I enjoyed Full Metal Jacket more than AO; no second thoughts. Chaste tamil was difficult to was difficult to comprehend. Couldn’t enjoy the dialogues. Since you made a comment about the structure; I couldn’t comprehend difference between the AO and Full Metal Jacket. I find that they are similar in this regard.
I can see why it seems like that to the layman but Aayirathil Oruvan and Full Metal Jacket have nothing in common structure-wise.
Full Metal Jacket is a two-act film, neatly divided into two halves that have everything to do with each other. The first half is about order/method and the second is about chaos/madness – a contrast between the organised schedule of the classroom and the mayhem of war. The hero of Full Metal Jacket expressly says in the film that he represents the duality of life – he is torn between the ideologies of his rebellious classmate who goes crazy and kills the disciplinarian teacher. Chaos kills Order halfway into the film, leaving behind the hero who has both of it in him (remember he sports a peace sign and his helmet reads Born to Kill and explains it is to make a statement about the duality of man) and Chaos takes over in the second half until Order is restored in the very end. The First act takes you From Order to Chaos. And the Second Act takes you From Chaos to Order.
Aayirathil is the classical five act structure. There’s a very clear 1. Prologue – that begins in the 1279 or so (the Prologue also suggests that those are part of folklore and establish a myth about a Chola King who sent his Prince away). Then there’s the 2. Rising Action that is filled with obstacles leading to a 3. Climax (halfway) where they go crazy – the turning point of the film that leads to 4. Falling Action that is about the face-off between the protagonist and the antagonist (Reema and Parthipan, who represent the warring dynasties in this case) leading to a 5. Denouement (that takes it back right to the situation where the story began – the disappearance of the Chola Prince).
Aayirathil is just lazy, half-baked screenwriting with blatant disregard to character graphs, interplay between characters invested in and abruptly aborted characters and a flawed internal logic… There’s a difference between the student killing the teacher because this act of killing resolves both character’s fates, not ignored or suspended as in the case in Aayirathil Oruvan.
So please don’t ever mention these two films in the same breath or call them similar in any respect.
” What’s been pissing me off is that a few fanboys are trying to convince everyone else who do not agree with them that it’s their fault that they didn’t understand and/or had different expectations “…..
Thank god you said that…this really reinforced my views on the movie . Even fantasy films should have a structure .
But cmon …” B-grade no-brainer called The Mummy Returns. “!!?? I liked that movie.It was a paisa vasool entertainer…but the 3rd installment ‘ Tomb of dragon emperor ‘ was a drab however.
Don’t completely agree with the review.I would give it a 7 on ten.
Even the so called stalwarts in Indian Cinema have not tried making films on this genre.
Hats off to Selva for making this movie and I’m sure if he makes a sequel on this it will be a much more convincing one and I’d love to read Sudhish’s review on that.
CG : This film was made on a budget of 32 crores with thousands of junior artists working in this movie. So can’t blame the graphics, as we can’t expect it to be world class. Ask James Cameroon or any other director to make a movie on this budget. Do you think it will satisfy everyone?
Tamilian population is just 8 crores and that’s the reason we are not able to invest more.
One more plus to the movie is the way the songs are pictured, which Selva does it better than most Indian directors.
A must watch movie though its not a logical one throughout.
Fair review. Except that, I think we shouldn’t be expecting anything great with the graphics knowing such a budget. It’d be unfair on any filmmakers. But then again, the need for graphics could have been avoided in the first place.
Ram:
Since you are young, I owe you a reply.
For a 20 year old movie-buff, your approach is absolutely right. Watch and appreciate all kinds of cinema.
But I hope you know that the job of a critic involves analysis. And a film like Austin Powers (spoof) and Harold and Kumar (stoner film) are subject to reviews too and you will be surprised at the amount of layering and the subversive commentary in these two extremely intelligent films. So don’t just dismiss them as silly or stupid films that don’t need reading. Films need to be reviewed in the context of the genre and Aayirathil oruvan is a dark fantasy based on a myth and hence any analysis requires a deep understanding of how myths work and why they work.
The job of a movie buff is easy, he has to just sit on his ass and like a film or hate a film. He does not have to explain, he can just do so unconditionally. Because it’s his personal opinion.
A critic cannot do that. He has to/must explain his personal opinion… why he likes it and why he does not like it. It’s his duty to do that and is paid for insight and analysis. His personal opinion needs to be validated because it is considered to be informed opinion. It’s not meant for movie buffs who will anyway watch films of all kind. Reviews are for those who need analysis and informed opinion on whether or not you should go for a film.
Watch all kinds of movies, even the bad ones because you can learn from their mistakes but if you want to be smarter, learn from the mistakes of good filmmakers too.
Sir,
thanks a lot for this review… I have followed your reviews sometimes in the past in newspapers and stuff; but its the first time am hitting your website… Am rejoiced when i muse over the fact that my opinions over the movie have been very identical to yours… I caught up with the movie first day second show; and could not find many reasons to be really convinced other than the brave new attempt… Sir, i strongly feel movies like AO are good for tamil cinema purely for the new attempt, considering our movies are in desperate need of evolving and move over the usual formulaic pot boilers for heaven’s sake… But otherwise, the movie had many loopholes and poor screenplay and awkwardness of characters, combined with confusion, irrelevance and lack of clarity in the second half left me quite disappointed.. I have had lot of arguments over my friends regarding the movie; and surprisingly you have mentioned the same aspect too, because every time someone says the movie is only for intelligent people or so-called followers of good cinema, its literally pissing me off… Does hating AO simply mean one is a lover of commercial movies or is a narrow minded audience? How blasphemic it can get? And someone please stop comparing AO to some well known fantasical movies of hollywood… Apart from the budget alone; there is so much experimentation, research work, experimentation. camera angles, and homework done in an average western adventure movie, while I cant find all that here… Ofcourse I do hope AO paves way for enticing and brave new movies in our very own kollywood…
This has been a nice attempt by selva.
How many of people who have commented have understood everything wen u saw mummy,avatar & everything.I wish selva comes overcomes some of the flaws in AO2……………………….Tamil film is entering into a new era
new era of tamil films?! :O all of you get a life and get off this thread. neither the movie nor the bashing deserve your time
Lolz…..
Super filmmaker sir neenga…
STEVEN SPIELBERG MATTUM INDIANA JONES LA INDIANS HUMAN FLESH SAPPIDRADHA KAMCHA CLAPS & APPLAUSE ANA IDHAE SELVARAGAVAN PANA OTHUKA MATINGA…
INDIANA JONES LA BLACK MAGIC KAMICHA OTHUPINGA ANA AYIRATHIL ORUVAN LA BLACK MAGIC KAMICHA OTHUKA MATINGA…
DEI PONGA DA POI ENGLISHKARAN KU KUJA THUKUNGA….
Neenga Indiana Jones Tamil dubbing thaan paathingala?
Because, I don’t think you understood Indiana Jones completely in the first place.
Why doesn’t Harrison Ford or any of the other human set in real time ever do anything supernatural? Why are only the mythical elements entrusted with all the magic? Because the parameters are clearly defined. Just because you don’t understand English films, don’t assume Indiana Jones films didn’t have an internal logic. I don’t have a problem with the fantasy, the problem is with the consistency and the flawed internal logic of the fantasy. AO is not an awesome film or an awful film, it’s mediocre filmmaking and I have listed my reasons in my review and nowhere among those reasons do I say I have a problem with black magic.
I have a problem with the definition of the scope and parameters (these contribute to the internal logic of a fantasy) – who can use magic, how, why and when and who can’t use magic and why not. We know Superman can fly. But we also know Superman can’t handle Kryptonite. The definitions and scope of the fantasy are made crystal clear.
You are free to love a film unconditionally. But don’t try to deconstruct when you are not equipped with the tools or the knowledge to do so. Will you let a layman do a heart surgeon’s job? If you really want to learn and understand a few concepts about myths, I could recommend a few books.
Since I have some understanding of how myths work and teach screenwriting, I try to share my perspective based on the technical aspects on the craft. It’s entirely up to you on whether you want to take it or not.
And for the last part of your comment, it wouldn’t take much for some of the people here to say: Dei Ponga Da Poi Selvaraghavan Su… sorry Shoea Nakkunga! So don’t say things that you can’t handle yourself. Cheers!
P.S: See that button above the Shift Key, that’s the Caps Lock. You can actually turn it off you know!
can you please elaborate on the “internal logic” .i thought we understood that the magical powers were limited . else they could have created food and water out of air ,right ! you do not need a “Kryptonite” in the movie to understand the limitations of their powers.
cheers .
A fanboy blindly loves a film, doesn’t he?
Even if “we understood that the magical powers were limited” but how exactly, why and how. How does an outsider from the real world suddenly practice magic? As a fan you are free to assume what you want to believe but as a critic, it is my job to raise these questions and point out why things didn’t work entirely for a majority of the audience including me.
Have you ever thought why Indiana Jones despite of all the fantasy adventures he has been through, never has any supernatural powers himself? Because, the filmmaker knows he needs at least one anchor in reality to make the audience connect with his adventure with the supernatural.
In AO, Reema suddenly demonstrates her powers in magic… Karthi rides a rock and becomes Chosen One and the people who we connected to as ordinary humans have suddenly and conveniently been bestowed with powers. That’s silly, convenient screenwriting. Why do you think Cameron bothered to explain the Flux vortex? Also, why didnt he just make humans walk around in Pandora without masks? Because he considered his audience a little more intelligent than Selva did.
Village idiots may buy a cock and bull story because of their lack of exposure. But people conditioned to sophisticated storytelling (the kinds he’s trying to reach) will have a problem with the loopholes.
Selva maybe the best in the village and probably has his clan of devoted idiots who think he’s a genius but if he wants to be the best, it’s time he went outside his world and learnt a few more things to improve his understanding of storytelling and cinema. Especially, if he’s trying to say he’s in the league of “Avatar and The Mummy Returns”… (which aren’t in the same league and he can’t be stupid enough to not see that!) He thinks having women cuss at each other in English makes him look Hollywood!
That shows his maturity as a filmmaker. He’s no doubt street-smart, he’s no doubt raw and talented but he will not grow if he is surrounded by idiots who tell him he’s a genius. And Selva deserves to grow.
Hi. I finally watched Aayirathil Oruvan yesterday.
It was like watching a matka-phod competition. You think the teamwork is excellent and you are engrossed in their formation but then at some point you realize why they are still going on with the formation while they are way past the matka. After minutes of this weirdness you watch them fall to the ground without achieving their goal.
“Dei Ponga Da Poi Selvaraghavan Su… sorry Shoea Nakkunga! So don’t say things that you can’t handle yourself. ” – hahahaha. Add that to the duck-off league of political correctness!
have you seen “the green mile” ?
how do you explain the “prisoner” who cures tom hanks with his special powers ? how can he be shown to posses some power after we are led to believe he is an ordinary human . silly and convinient screenwriting huh ?
//Especially, if he’s trying to say he’s in the league of “Avatar and The Mummy Returns”… (which aren’t in the same league and he can’t be stupid enough to not see that!) //
selva never stated that .it was shown in the ads(by distributors) to woo local audience who are familiar with those movies.
//it is my job to raise these questions and point out why things didn’t work entirely for a majority of the audience including me.//
well delhi 6 did not work out for the majority . should i assume that it was a bad movie ? and the audience are idiots ?
p.s- you are one critic who hates to be criticized .funny!.you can not grow if you dont take criticism sudish. i think you know this best.
cheers
Dear Ajay,
I take criticism from people I respect and admire. Will you take criticism from the beggar passing your house when he abuses you saying you didn’t give him attention?
If you want me to take you seriously, you must work on your arguments. Cheers!
Happy that Selva has taken Tamil films to the next step technically… atleast he has opened new doors (though not a great attempt)…
Unnecessary double tenders is wot keeps the audience in the theater (so it isnt unnecessary right…??)…otherwise its a damn squib… for its complete script goof up…
Imagine… Mummy kinda adventure + Chola Puranam + LTTE story… why all this in one movie… Who is he trying to test or convince…??
Hi,
Good Review..Few things I did not understand in the movie
1. How come Ravi sekaran and his private guards can kill the tribes indiscriminately ? That too in vietnam.. Isnt this an act of war?
2.Reema sens and Karthiks Magical ability
3. Old man stays alive for 800 years? Cholas were just kings..There was no proof that they had some supernatural abilities.
I can go on..but let me stop..
At the end of the movie I felt Selvaragavan has taken some dope and has directed the whole movie in the high state
In my humble opinion, I think the turn of events in the movie is a portrayal of how ‘Destiny’ forces and thrusts the “role” to be played by each and every character.
If you are trying to question the reason and logic behind ‘Destiny’, Well then….Good luck.
There were flaws for sure but i would not say screen play was as bad as you have written. say, there are 100 steps to glory, Selva is just on his 5th…Long way to go…..but surely the way to go….
I feel your blogs [ even replies to comments ]carry the main objective of flaying and ridiculing. But, I again as you have already said all we people who comment against your style have got to be beggars…….[ Because if there is some one whom you respect, he ought to be a big shot in film industry and he wouldn’t normally waste his time commenting …blah blah..]
Keep it up!!
“There were flaws for sure but i would not say screen play was as bad as you have written. say, there are 100 steps to glory, Selva is just on his 5th…Long way to go…..but surely the way to go….”
I agree with the flaws bit and that he has a long way to go. How good or bad the screenplay is – is a matter of perception based on our backgrounds and there’s no way we are going to reach a consensus on that. So let’s just disagree on that.
But the very function of a critic is to express his response to a work of art or a story, in this case. As someone who watched it twice, I felt more and more disappointed and even frustrated at the lost opportunity and any criticism is to address the root of the problem – the half-baked script. It’s rich with ideas and teeming with potential but the filmmaker has very little knowledge/understanding of how to craft a screenplay. I am only advocating that the filmmaker equips himself with the skills to doctor his script. If he can do this with no training at all, imagine what he could do with the inputs the greatest filmmakers around the world have had.
I respect people who make valid points without resorting to making personal remarks. Making a personal remark is the surefire way to getting your ass kicked around here. 🙂
When someone does not have a point apart from “You are not agreeing with me and hence you cannot take criticism,” I take the opportunity to remind them that the right to criticise is earned. There’s a good reason a critic is paid for his opinion and why an anonymous troll hiding behind an email address after making a personal remark is considered a pest.
Thanks for the reply…
For the background part, i write stories, make short films, write/writing scripts, Write screen play [ In English, would like to write in tamil if future holds some promise… ]as my main work and part time i do some coding……Please have a look when time permits…..[http://shootingpeople.org/watch/film.php?film_id=81000]
For the commenting stuff, I would you should better reply more diplomatically. That would strike a balance…Replying harshly to such comments puts you on the same league as him…With all respect for your character and nature, it is just a suggestion from a passer by….
Karthick Hariharan
I am not a diplomat. In case my reviews didn’t already tell you that. 🙂
Cheers!
Oops it should appear at the end 🙂
Wow..thats what I call Hardwork..! 😛 Change the topic please..I beg you … 🙂
Even I did not care much for the cuss-word exchange, it looked rather forced than natural. Now, where I disagree with you is, Karthi being conveniently shown as the Chosen One…isn’t that a screenwriting tool that everybody uses to tie the loose ends? Rick O’Connell also conveniently finds the mark on his wrist and there is a drawing on the walls that shows how to kill Imoteph?
I mean from B-grade trashy movies (Mettukudi?) to classy movies (I cannot remember anything now, but I am sure there are bound to be some movies) everybody have used the tattoo/symbol etc., to tie the loose ends.
Well, he was the Chosen One because his job/role is to protect the prince, not to lead them at least in the context of this movie…maybe in a Sequel he would lead them in the fight against Yes, I do completely agree that logic was amiss there, but when you are dazzled by the visuals, the lack of logic does not bother you too much…does it?
I would put this to the fact that the deficiencies were overwhelming for you to an extent that it dampened the overall effect whereas for me, the deficiences recede to the background at least while watching the movie…I too asked the same question as to why Andrea had nothing in the second half, why wasn’t anyone else in the entire civilization speaking any dialogues and many more to a friend of mine, but that was much later with a coffee after a sumptuous lunch at Peter’s Road Saravana Bhavan….
It was just that it turned self-indulgent is exactly why it worked for me and not for you. But you are one of the finest movie critic in Chennai and I do really really enjoy your writings to that of Hindu’s tamil movie critic.
Oh no, no comparison with RGV’s Aag…that was truly bad where memorable characters were trashed.
I wouldn’t really use The Mummy as an example for good screenwriting especially because it was such a forgettable film and intended as a money-spinning spectacle for world markets that would go nuts about the visual effects. Since I cannot remember the details, I am unable to elaborate on where AO fails with regard to The Mummy.
Also, I have no problems with Karthi being the Chosen One, I only have a problem with the way it was set-up and executed conveniently. One moment, a kid’s urinating on him and he’s this slave and suddenly, he’s a rock-riding gladiator who slays the giant and dances with the king.
Being a screenwriter myself, the way characters are set-up, their graphs, their interplay, the seeds sown through the narrative, the resulting harvest etc are all of great interest to me. There’s nothing more annoying than to watch an idea with great potential rushed into a half-baked script. My problem is that Selvaraghavan did not indulge enough to find out more about his characters, the world, the mechanics of supernatural that would define the scope of the film but more basically, how can three people who shared a journey suddenly stop caring for each other and rarely even interact with each other in the second half.. my problem was that the multiplicity of ideas did not flow out seamlessly through a taut narrative.
I am aware that the film worked for a lot of people and I appreciate art-lovers and movie buffs standing up for the vision of a filmmaker and things that made them overlook the flaws. But as a critic, I am only sharing my perspective – what worked for me and what didn’t and why.
What’s significant here is that the film has generated extreme reactions and any film that provokes people with strong emotions needs to be watched.
The director messes up with the details. Too many contradictions all through.
How did a small island with a rain forest also have a huge desert in the middle?
How did the three main characters always escape from all the perils? The shadow logic explains one but the rest are not explained properly. Cannibals let a year’s worth of food go easy? Director seems to have taken a long time to develop the broad story line but the details in haste. The chola people are fantastic enough to build 7 sophisticated traps but somehow deteriorate into weird cave people over time? The king is callous, cold hearted but in the latter scenes self sacrifing? Why couldnt the director choose between how to portray this main character? In short alli thelitha avasara kolam.
Dear Mr. Kamath,
We all know that your knowledge of movies is widespread. However, do you think you would ever be able to write a review without comparing it to any other movie?
Fair point. I only draw references when I think they are essential. Besides, since my review is one of the last to appear, I try to add a context you already haven’t got from other reviews.
I agree that the film is not upto its expectation.
There might be flaws in the film,but still feel that they need some apprciation for their hard work.
They have thought something different and worked to bring it out.
Sudhish – can we see a new movie from you with out flaws
I feel if you have rights to write cricts. you should also dare to prove that you can produce something like this with flaws.. If not all your critcs above are in vein similar to movie.
If critics could make flawless films, we would make films full time, not review. Criticism is easy because we get the benefit of hindsight.
A critic’s job is to analyse. If you have a problem with the very function of analysis, don’t read reviews.
Don’t take any critic seriously. A critic is just a time pass for us. For himself though he has got a talent and manages to get paid for the same.Dude, your views doesn’t bind on anyone as much i suspect you perceive. Same for any critic. But i really pity you when YOU say Selva needs a course on screenwriting, NK is poverty porn, or not sure if bala deserves a national award etc. That’s it.
By any chance, did you read the disclaimer at the top of this blog? Right on the header? Let me read it out for you again: “Contains explicit language, bad taste and extremely poor judgement.” Cheers!
Good Review, As a creator its hard to digest the failure and he is a good film maker but the bad graphics and comparision with avatar he himself thought we appreciate only english films, its not like that any feel good film will be appreciated, we went for first day first show and 2nd half people started shouting :-(. Internal logic should be there ofcourse its a film but there has to be connections and that is where screenplay wins. What to do way to go but still we people say we are better than hollywood instead of learning good things
Wow..thats what I call Hardwork..! :p Change the topic please..I beg you …:)
Selva required the balls to make this movie . Glad he made it . Though I have to accept that one with a good brain needs to leave it home to enjoy this movie, it was definitely a decent attempt. The music helped the movie in many a ways.
Not all things start in the perfect manner, so lets hope that the directors can pick up on this front, start experimenting, and make a good movie with something to cheer about for everyone .
And lets stop comparing movies. A movie is perceived better when analyzed alone. Not fair if we are going to throw this on the balance with Avatar .
Aayirathil Oruvan- A tamil movie, hardly any budget, a new genre, never before experimented script, fitting music. Definitely deserves some credit.
Sudhish, nice review as ever .
Very nice review – this is my first visit to your blog and I stumbled upon yours when I was looking for reviews to see if someone else thought that some scenes (ear bleeding scene where they act possessed, or the magical powers reema gets etc.) made no sense …
ive been reading an array of silly arguments. firstly we must understand that its an indian film. it is really absurd to compare any indian film to the likes of avatar, etc. because frankly speaking indian films havent reached that level yet. secondly a huge problem lies in over acting and things related to supernatural activity. but i dont blame anyone because inherently thats what our religion teaches us. thirdly indian audience is still naive. yes i agree that the screenplay had a few flaws in it but it is a movie made for the mass audience. not for a group of intellectually enlightened minds looking to watch a perfect film. the mass indian audience would never appreciate a film like eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!. on the whole AO is a really good film which totally entices u n takes u into a different world. the story is amazing though the plot and screenplay has its flaws. the idea that inspired the movie was well thought of..
thanks
Hi Sudhish,
I happened to see this movie only recently. I then stumbled upon your review.
I really appreciate the way you have reviewed this movie, clearly deconstructing it from a logical viewpoint. I have also noted down your recommendation of the book on Monomyths. Being a small time writer/artist myself, I hold “technical knowledge” and “training” as extremely important to evolve into a successful and mature artist (filmmaker, scriptwriter, actor, etc). Structure, plot, characters and narration are vital to a story. And I found AO completely disrespecting fundamental principles of structure and characterization/characters. The story just went berserk in the 2nd-half. Actually the first half was nothing great either, I would prefer repeats of Anaconda 1 & 2 on HBO instead.
Also, I fail to understand how a civilization continues to exist/survive centuries later without ever being found. And why did the dodos (The Team) go all the way on-foot; they could’ve easily used satellites to locate this “spot” and then just fly-down to the place. And Selva so easily shows Reema & Co (the army/mercenaries) almost wiping out an entire “lost civilization”; which Govt would permit that; on the contrary they are supposed to bring this lost Chozhan civilization back “home” and it would’ve been a great discovery. Aggghhhh!! I know Selva would have a flawed logic to explain all of this (LTTE methaphor and what not). Anyways.
And it doesn’t require someone like Selva to make AO. Any dumb-ass can just conjure up a story with complete disregard for continuity, flow, characters, logic. The kind our folks often tell us to put us to sleep. No pun intended towards our folks 🙂 Well, in that sense, like our folks, Selva did succeed in putting us to sleep.
Cheers.
p.s: All the best for Good Night – Good Morning.
The Discussions were better than the review,especially your replies Sudish!
Learnt a Lot 🙂
Dope dope and more dope…Mr. Selva Raghavan, pls cut down on some…I understand you like getting stoned and then make a mess out of a such a brilliant concept, write a screenplay where only you understood the narration, skip on some very important details regarding cholas vs pandyas rivalry, include perverted scenes (so that you can jack-off on them while doing more dope!), include (read: insert or thrust for selva’s pleasure) songs in between that have no relevance whatso-fuckin-ever to the movie or story, overshoot ur budget while shooting and hence have no money to include atleast decent graphics…(how much did u spend on those useless songs btw? didn’t it strike u to use that money here?), cast an actress who is good enough but has limitations when it comes to mouthing tamil dialogues (even someone like priya mani might have found it difficult to memorize the pure tamil dialogues, but cud have been 90-95% effective, with reema, u r signing up mockery during those scenes!), copy or get “inspired” by scenes from 300, gladiator, mackenna’s gold etc,, and finally dish out such a tasteless excuse of a thriller which loses out on the main message (coz Im sure most of the viewers had to go read the story of the film elsewhere to understand what was actually going on)!!!
Was your intention just to “disturb” the viewers? I don’t understand this obsession of a few tamil directors to have such mind-fuck scenes in their movies – while I do appreciate some who do it as a part of the story structure, like Bala (Sethu and Pitha-Magan, Ameer (Paruthhiveeran), Balachander (Ek dujje ke liye), And the director of the movie Kadhal! But this is just being a SADIST! I really think that, Selvaraghavan is that army guy who was forcing the queen to dance naked and then forcing her to dance in kuthu style! I’m sure that’s him – He should have himself played that part to be honest!
Story Structure – Boss! I can’t believe you have made films before this…it is such a disappointment – actually on a second thought, I’m not! I feel he does this in every movie. remember in Kadhal Kondein, Soniya’s character suddenly becomes scared of Dhanush’s character – right after the scene where she says – she trusts him more than her boyfriend? I think SK is right – SR is a good director – and should get help from specialized screenwriters. But SK, I think its a cultural thing – for ages we have had the credit as “Story, Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction by some jackass” in tamil films. Don’t think they understand Dialogues can be part of the screenplay and that direction is completely different from writing a story or screenplay! Don’t really see that changing soon…sorry!
Want to write more, but really have to go now…Maybe will add on if someone replies…:)
Yours sincerely, K