Vaaranam Aayiram - Movie review

Finally , the much hyped movie of the season has been thrown open to the audience after a long wait. And does the movies satisfy the fans? Is it worth the wait? Well, taste differs and so does opinion, and I shall present my review of the movie in my own style.

The film starts with an old an out Krishnan(Surya) nearing his end with the memories of his son(Surya again) in the army. Once the news of his father's demise reaches surya, who is in middle of a rescue operation, he thinks about the past, where his father was everything for him.
The flashback starts with Krishnan in his 70's trying to woo Malini(Simran)and he sweeps her off her feet(as she says in the film itself). They fall in love with each other and obviously get married. Then comes the son Surya, who is the apple of Krishnan's eyes. Surya has been given enough liberty by his parents and he doesnt seem to take his academics seriously, and always has fun with his group of friends, be it college or school. When returning home from college for one last time he meets Meghna(Sameera Reddy) in the adjecent berth in train. Inspired by his parents' love story he proposes Meghna the same moment, and he even follows her to San fransisco, with his parents' permission. He impresses Meghna and when things are going well, a blast in Okalahama accounts for Meghna's death and Surya's dream is shattered. He is so bereaved that he induldges in drugs and the whole family do their best to bring him out of it. Then enters Priya(Divya), a neighour of them who is in love with Surya. Surya unwillingly rejects her and goes to the Army. However in days time he is convinced that Priya is her future and they get together. Meanwhile Krishnan falls seriously ill and is diaognised throat cancer. Surya leaves for the rescue mission hoping to meet his father again, but his hopes are shattered when he gets the news of Krishnan's demise.

Gautham has been so attached to his father that the latter's death has urged him to make a film on father-son relationship. Neither the story nor the theme is new to Tamil Cinema, infact it is a blur mix of Cheran's "Autograph" and "Thavamai Thavamirundhu". What stands out is the treatment meted to the story. It's pure Goutham style. Dialoges are fresh and the way CG is used to show the father Surya and his son in same screen is commendable(not the Azhagiya tamil magan way). Haris Jeyaraj has already made his contributions noteworthy with the songs proving to be chart busters. The songs were picturised with purpose and they had enough appeal to keep you attached to your seats. Yethi Yethi was pure fun(watch out for Surya as Micheal Jackson), Mundhinam is Nostalgic, Adiye kolludhe rocks, nenjukul is refreshing and other songs fit the bill. The way Anjala song was shot reminds us off various old songs, but it is still great.

The fact that Surya alias Saravanan has been improving as an actor with every film he does, is once again proved in VA(i shall use this instead of the whole title hereafter). He is inching closer to the place attained by none other than Kamal Haasan, with this movie. He is a treat to watch as the young man Krishnan in the 70's, the aging father, a young man who is victimised by drugs and the untimely death of his lady love, the muscular army major who frequently flaunts his well developed six-pack abdomen(girls may go gaga over it), but my personal favourite would be the 17-year old teenager with his cool hair-do and almost invisible moustache. Surya's potrayal of all these charecters would even make Kamal Haasan proud. And as said by Goutham Menon, no one else could have fit the role better than Surya.

Simran proves her mettle in her role as Malini. The scene where the subdued reaction she exhibits on losing her husband shows that there is still lots of areas to explore with this actress. Sameera Reddy is a breath of fresh air for the tamil audience.The scenes on the train with Surya where he pulls out the guitar and sings 'En iniya pon nilave' is the romatic best we can get. And the fact that we really fell for her once her character dies tells us the impact she had on us. Divya Spandana is homely and makes a very subdued appearence.

Coming to the negatives, the film is far too lengthy and it's considered as a documentary by many people who watch it . Certain scenes in the second half could have been trimmed. And the scenes where Surya goes to Delhi and rescues the son of an person whom he had befriended in a flight journey(He had met him only once before) is unrealistic and loosely attached to the main theme(The scenes were aimed at showing that Surya's negative energy is turned into positive energy, but hardly do all get to understand that). How come anybody send an already troubled child to a lonely place when the first thing he needs is good company. And when the family is struggling to meet ends Surya is advised by his father to go to US in search of his lady love(too good a father). Everyone in the movie speaks english predominantly,and for almost 15 mins in the second half they speak hindi(Thank god..they had subtitles in tamil), and so it may not be well recieved in the B & C centres.

A shorter second half , some unwanted scenes deleted can do loads of good to this film. Watch it for Surya and he will defenitely not disappoint you.

I ll rate the movie by awarding a 3/5