After a super hit debut with 'Trisha Illana Nayanthara', young director Adhik Ravichander has teamed up with Silambarasan for 'Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan'. Adhik who is reportedly an ardent fan of STR seems to have focused only on the mass elements to satisfy the actor's ardent fans without caring much about story and screenplay.
Madurai Michael (Silambarasan) is a powerful gangster in Madurai. He is an orphan who loyal to his gang leader who has given him a life. He falls in love with Selvi who also reciprocates his feelings. However she wants him to quit his killer job and elope with her to Dubai to start a peaceful life. Michael decides to leave with Selvi but takes up one last murder assignment for his boss. In that assignment he gets arrested.
After around 30 years, the same Michael lives in Chennai as Ashwin Thatha,with his friends(We don’t want to reveal what happens in the middle, in order to avoid spoilers). Ashwin Thatha falls in love with Ramya (Tamannah) a young girl who runs a old age home. Ramya also likes Ashwin Thatha due to his charm and boldness. But does she love him? This is said in the rest of the film which ends with an open ended climax, setting the tone for the second part.
Adhik Ravichander’s debut film ‘Trisha Illana Nayanthara’ dealt with a bold and controversial subject but everyone would accept that the film was highly entertaining and engaging. But with his second outing with a talented actor and well established mass star like STR in the lead, the director has failed big time in entertaining the audience with his writing skills. The story has nothing new and most of the proceedings are unintentionally funny. The characters are so weakly written that we don’t get invested with them at any point. The film hardly has an interesting scene or a sequence that deserves a mention.
The ideas to infuse comedy, such as the current shock repeatedly suffered by a particular characterand the treatment given to him. in the first half is simply irritating to say the least. The same can be said about the antics of Kovai Sarala and other characters added for the so called entertainment purpose in the second half. The only portion that evokes genuine laughter is the spoof on ‘Thalli Pogathey’ song from STR’s previous film ‘Achcham Yenbathu Madamaiyada’.
Having said that, Adhik has added enough elements to suit the mass image of STR. The first ten minutes, the interval portion and the climax portions make the fans go berserk and even others may like them as those portions have some interesting elements. There are some dialogues that suit the real life image of STR and his fans will really enjoy them.
Dialogues which are at times powerful and noteworthy, are otherwise replete with double entendres and promotes regressive ideals against women. Especially the dialogues uttered by STR and G.V.Prakash Kumar (who comes in a cameo role) in the climax sequence generalising women as cheaters are repulsive to say the least. This is more problematic at a time when the dignified portrayal of women characters is slowly becoming a trend in Tamil cinema. However these dialogues strike the right chord with the young male adults towards whom they are aimed at.
The film ends without answering many questions raised in the first part. Probably they will be answered in the second part.
STR’s screen presence and electrifying performance in two different characters is the biggest plus of the film. He elevates even the ordinary scenes with his adorable body language and dialogue delivery. He utters some lengthy and emotional dialogues where we get to catch the glimpses of the fine performer within him. But the prosthetic makeup for the Ashwin Thatha character is so artificial and serves as a turn off. We also could not find any reason for his becoming chubby for this character.
Shriya Saran impresses with her performance in a short but memorable character. Tamannah adds the glamour quotient in the second half with ultra modern costumes which perfectly suit her tonned physique and charming looks. But the actress does not have any scope to show her histrionic skills.
Kasthuri comes in a bold and surprising character and she does justice to her casting. Mahath as Michael character's sidekick is adequate while VTV Ganesh is getting extremely repetitive with same kind of roles and performances. It is sad to see a veteran like Y.G.Mahendra acting in a character who does stupid things and speaks cheap double meaning dialogues. Kovai Sarala, Rajendran, Swaminathan and Manohar hardly serve the purpose of their casting.
Yuvan Shankar Raja’s songs are pleasant on the ears as well as eyes, thanks to good choreography and picturisation. There are only three songs in the film. Background Score is fantastic and even lifts the prospects of some underwhelming scenes. Krishnan Vasanth’s cinematography is adequate. Stunt choreography is praiseworthy.
Verdict: Watch ‘AAA’ Part-1, for STR’s performance, YSR’s music and Tamannah’s glamour.
