Movie review :Ayirathil Oruvan

(spoiler alert for those who haven't seen the movie yet!)

After all the bashing and brickbats and the ooh's and aah's this movie had been getting I finally got to watch it on sunday. I am not going to pan this movie totally as selvaraghavan deserves applause for trying something different.adventure-fantasy is a genre that is generally not explored in tamil cinema. Yes , finally Tamil cinema has gotten its quota of experimentation..too bad that they have not got it totally right.

Lavanya(Andrea), an archaeologist whose father has mysteriously disappeared during his hunt for a lost chola kingdom sets out to find him with a team headed by Anitha (Reema Sen) and accompanying them is Muthu (Karthi) who with his motely crowd helps them withcarrying their things.The first half of the movie is thoroughly enjoyable with the stunning visuals of the challakudy forestsand their trek in general.The occasional comedy is genuinely funny and the songs picturized well , my pick would be u"un mela aasadhaan" shoton the lead pair as they exuberantly dance and sing in success of their discovery.the graphics are downright pathetic in the first half.visuals like that of the camel in the ruins , the jellyfish in the water(I thought they were butterflies)and an occasional animated waterfall do not work.it is downright cartoonish.it is the second half that pulls the movie down. the story ricochets in a totally different direction altogetherand some scenes appear disjointed and truly baffle you.the screenplay is at fault here.throughout the movie and mainly in the second half the excessive gore and bloodshed makes you want to throw up . in scenes like that of the big man trying to kill people with the huge ball and the fight with the red cannibals you tend to wish for the scene to end to spare you from the gore.the lost chola clan with all its subjects are scary..though gory the visuals there of the people crowding around carcasses and the entry of their king(Parthiban) makes up the few breathtaking visuals in the movie.the people there seem to have nothing else to do other flash their scary teeth,maul at dead bodies and drink blood. AO also seems to be inspired by many hollywood flicks.you can spot similarities to mckenna's gold , troy and chronicles of narnia(a friend and me couldnt help but noticethe similarities between the final battles in both these films!!)My favorite part of the movie would truly be the totally WTH moments before the interval.they truly give a jolt and is downright creepy.

Coming to the cast , Karthi is brilliant. as the loud foul mouthed Muthu nursing a soft spot for Andrea and giving her occasional coy looks in the first half he fitsthe role to a T.Reema Sen is back after a long time and she is effective both as the team leader and the princess.she looksstunning and her costumes complement her.her lip sync, though fails in parts. Andrea has limited screen time and is ok.Parthiban plays the Chola king with a spark.The music is different and reverberating and is surely one of G.V.Prakash'sbest till date.after spending three years on its making you sure did expect a lot more in terms of visual effects and the proceeding of the story and narration.this movie can be watched once but as you come out of the theater you cant help feeling "if only......"