After nearly three years in the making, 'Aayirathil Oruvan' has finally hit the theatres as a Pongal fare. A much anticipated film from ace director Selvaraghavan, who had revealed both intelligence and sensitivity in his earlier films, this one was meant to be an adventure saga of epic proportions, which would justify the long time taken for production and the talent and crores poured into its making. But watching it, all that one feels is a sense of disillusionment. And that this time, the director has taken on more than he can chew. That he had let himself be confused trying to blend in fantasy with reality, the ancient with the modern, and missed out on the essential sensibility and conviction, while narrating the fictional Chola-Pandiya centuries-old conflict carried out to the present day.
And it’s not that the director lacked inspiration for his tale. We can find here an amalgam of various films. Like King Solomon’s Mines, Spartacus, Mackenna’s Gold and the Lara Croft…adventure sagas. He could at least have structured it all in a neat, sensible and convincing manner to suit Indian nativity. But the script is crammed, and as the tale unfolds, the director seems to lose his grip on his narration which turns jerky and tedious. There are appalling flaws, loopholes and unanswered questions. Every genre has its own logic, but this is given the go-by here. It’s an exasperating journey, which at times seems never-ending, specially in the latter part.
The film does have an opening that promises an exciting adventure to follow. The earlier portions move briskly. It opens in a brief flashback to centuries ago, where the Chola-Pandiya conflict results in the Chola king leaving to some remote island near Vietnam. To discourage his trail being followed, the king had laid seven traps, through water and land, fire-storms, snakes and antagonistic tribals. It’s back to the present where an archeologist (Pothan) goes missing on this trail. Anita (Sen), commissioned on a secret expedition under the command of military man Ravi (Perumal trying hard to fit in) to unravel the mystery, ropes in Lavanya (Andrea), the missing man’s daughter, and an archeologist herself. Joining them is a boorish coolie and guide (Karthi) and his men. After crossing the hurdles, the team finally reaches the place — a secret settlement, far removed from civilization. The end is open for a sequel.
Reema seems to have no clue about her role, and its just her sensuousness that has been exploited. Andrea has the right attitude and body language to carry out woman-centric roles but is hardly given any challenging moments here. Karthi as the cocky coolie is lovable, and it's he who peps the narration in the earlier part. Partibhan’s entry is impressive, his look and demeanour lend an exotic touch to the character of the Chola king. But the impact is lost in the poorly structured subsequent scenes. The songs which had sounded catchy and situational, lose out owing to bad picturisation. There are scenes that can’t be digested even by a moron. Like the one where Ravi suddenly whips out a mobile phone in a no man’s land, and sends some instructions. It’s not just that the cell phone magically worked after all the weeks (months?) of misadventures, no recharge and no signal towers but the dozen choppers that suddenly appear and drop Indian commandos in parachutes, which seem to have intruded along foreign territ ries to the island with absolutely no problem! The antics of this team too are shameful to say the least.
Source : http://www.expressbuzz.com/entertainment/entertainstory.aspx?Title=Ayirathil+Oruvan&artid=dcmptAzRhg8=&Title=Ayirathil+Oruvan&SectionID=D9ndGeLpmWY=&MainSectionID=D9ndGeLpmWY=&SEO=Mackenna%E2%80%99s+Gold,Chola+king&SectionName=agLPf9voqXc=
And it’s not that the director lacked inspiration for his tale. We can find here an amalgam of various films. Like King Solomon’s Mines, Spartacus, Mackenna’s Gold and the Lara Croft…adventure sagas. He could at least have structured it all in a neat, sensible and convincing manner to suit Indian nativity. But the script is crammed, and as the tale unfolds, the director seems to lose his grip on his narration which turns jerky and tedious. There are appalling flaws, loopholes and unanswered questions. Every genre has its own logic, but this is given the go-by here. It’s an exasperating journey, which at times seems never-ending, specially in the latter part.
The film does have an opening that promises an exciting adventure to follow. The earlier portions move briskly. It opens in a brief flashback to centuries ago, where the Chola-Pandiya conflict results in the Chola king leaving to some remote island near Vietnam. To discourage his trail being followed, the king had laid seven traps, through water and land, fire-storms, snakes and antagonistic tribals. It’s back to the present where an archeologist (Pothan) goes missing on this trail. Anita (Sen), commissioned on a secret expedition under the command of military man Ravi (Perumal trying hard to fit in) to unravel the mystery, ropes in Lavanya (Andrea), the missing man’s daughter, and an archeologist herself. Joining them is a boorish coolie and guide (Karthi) and his men. After crossing the hurdles, the team finally reaches the place — a secret settlement, far removed from civilization. The end is open for a sequel.
Reema seems to have no clue about her role, and its just her sensuousness that has been exploited. Andrea has the right attitude and body language to carry out woman-centric roles but is hardly given any challenging moments here. Karthi as the cocky coolie is lovable, and it's he who peps the narration in the earlier part. Partibhan’s entry is impressive, his look and demeanour lend an exotic touch to the character of the Chola king. But the impact is lost in the poorly structured subsequent scenes. The songs which had sounded catchy and situational, lose out owing to bad picturisation. There are scenes that can’t be digested even by a moron. Like the one where Ravi suddenly whips out a mobile phone in a no man’s land, and sends some instructions. It’s not just that the cell phone magically worked after all the weeks (months?) of misadventures, no recharge and no signal towers but the dozen choppers that suddenly appear and drop Indian commandos in parachutes, which seem to have intruded along foreign territ ries to the island with absolutely no problem! The antics of this team too are shameful to say the least.
Source : http://www.expressbuzz.com/entertainment/entertainstory.aspx?Title=Ayirathil+Oruvan&artid=dcmptAzRhg8=&Title=Ayirathil+Oruvan&SectionID=D9ndGeLpmWY=&MainSectionID=D9ndGeLpmWY=&SEO=Mackenna%E2%80%99s+Gold,Chola+king&SectionName=agLPf9voqXc=
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