Saturday, August 2, 2025

Asuran

 Asuran

2019, Tamil, Amazon Prime, 8.5/10 IMDB, Directed by Vetrimaran


South-slanged, slow paced story on inequalities of the 60's, portrayed through the eyes of a poor farmer with a painful past, strictly saved by the scintillating performance of the lead male and few strong supporting artists.

The story opens with a murder of an alpha male by a teen boy. The boy is protected by his father, escapes into the dense forest nearby and their family is left distorted. The tales and flashbacks of the father, narrated in the course of saving his son from the claws of the enemy's family, before they could surrender alive into the hands of the law, is what the rest of the movie is all about.

Now what is so intense about it, you may wonder, given the digital world that we live in. The uniqueness about the movie is that, the story that is placed in a plot that is four decades old, is treated with respect by an intrinsic director and an immensely talented actor, who lures us, into that era of helplessness, in a jiffy.

I haven't read the book, 'Vekkai', published in 2012 by Poomani, on which the movie is based. Hence, my views are contained only to the movie's content. The recent chart buster Pariyerum Perumal addressed the caste inequalities of the past and Asuran addresses the inequalities in land wealth associated with the rich and the poor, where caste seems to play it's dirty card, this time much subtly.

Dhanush, is mostly in the character of a man in his middle age and the actor is so convincing with his body language and fatigue dialogue delivery. This is no doubt a huge milestone in his acting career. May the actor be blessed with good health to mane similar challenging roles in future. He does make you brim with pride.

The director scores in every frame, from the wild boar hunt in banana farm, to the red sand stunt in the interval block, from the slippering of the villain, to the slipper humiliation in the flash back. These are only few of the many highlight moments.

Contrarily, the slipper humiliation was a tad bit less gripping to that of the urinating humiliation scene in Pariyerum Perumal.

The climax advice, echoes your memory, from Devar Magan- 'Educating the kids is the only measure to pull them out of the vicious cycle'. Again, it was bettered through Mari Selvaraj's characters in Pariyerum Perumal.

Almost all supporting characters are staunchly noteworthy. Each character is like flicking through couple of pages of descriptions from the author, that keeps running in the back of your mind. Their body language, their costume, their slang, their comfort zone in playing the character were commendable. All credit primarily points towards the director for casting and extracting the best of best from them all.

Manju warrier emotes organically and might be a good choice, but the sync with the Tamil folks would have been better by many folds, if it was a talent from Tamil industry. Actor Karuna's son, Ken, has a meaty debut role and he pulls it off.

Actor Pasupathi with his seasoned skills, makes you grow fonder of him and makes you long for the industry to utilize this real life organic farmer, on to such sane challenging roles in the future.

Prakashraj, after a hiatus, rocks with his natural performance as a senior lawyer protecting Dhanush and sparing his son from law.

There is some disjoint feel that runs throughout the movie and it forbids you to root for the characters as we did for Kathir in Pariyerum Perumal, Karthi and Kalaiarasan in Madras, Dinesh in Visaranai.

We have walked many million miles all these years, away from communal riots and societal inequalities in land wealth and caste. Just when the wounds are healing, it's unfair to poke through the same wound in reminding the pain of those societal inequalities of the past.

The movie might have been partly set to address the current scenarios with a positive notion rather than dwelling in the past, licking old wounds that are nearly healing.

The generation that soars to overcome inequalities in this modern era, through education and qualification, need not be constantly reminded of the origin of the mistakes by the Britishers, the landlords and affluent upper class that swindled the land from the uneducated masses, is my humble opinion.

But on the other hand, for the generation that is not aware of such humiliating inequalities that even existed, this must be second in line to Pariyerum Perumal.

Also, these kind of movies might prove a walk down the Memory Lane to warn the Nethas, to remind them to stay away from the root causes of the past riots and never to rekindle them for personal or political mileages.

An intense watch, that strangely doesn't glorify killing, even when it's all about killing and revenge.

Kudos Dhanush.

Oththa Seruppu size 7

 Oththa Seruppu size 7

2019, Tamil, Netflix, 8.6/10 IMDB Directed by R. Parthiepan

A Mono-act drama, that encompasses seasoned acting and breathtaking sound engineering, keeps you engaged till the last frame. The occasional fatigue of a sole artist performance, is vanquished by the foolproof screenplay and flawless direction.

The 2004 movie, Kudaikul Mazhai from R. Parthiban, made heads turn with a minimum of two artists in the entire movie and now we have been rationed to just one person, R.Parthibhan doing a solo performance. Its a phenomenally challenging thought, but he managed to hold the forte with ease. The film entered the Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records for having a single person writing, directing, solo acting and producing a film.

I don't want to reveal anything more than what the trailer did. The story revolves around an interrogation sequence where the accused is a psychologically disturbed person. The story is the strength of the movie and so is the impeccable performance by R.Parthiban.

There are multiple layers to the screenplay and it is unraveled slowly. Later when you look back, every piece of information in the movie, even the most random one, is an essential building block that shapes the final outcome.

The Malayalam blockbuster 'Drishyam' had a similar intelligent lead character but here it's all masked with the psychological coefficient of the sole artist and you are lured in to the plot step by step and suddenly you are witness a well thought out plan.

You are left to question the sanity of the character throughout the movie and the climax unearthes another perspective of the lead role.

Small 'Parthibanism' all over the movie, leaves you with a nostalgia. The lead role's name, 'Masilamani' can be read as 'Maasu illa money', contrast to his wife's character who is after filthy money, the magenta color of the 2000 rupee note matching the wife's saree, the romance sequence with Vaalaipoo Vadai, sound of the gushing water from the tap being similar to that of a female's laughter, the cat eyeing a nearby nest as a metaphor to that of a police eyeing a helpless man, the black Sabarimalai devotee's towel used for enacting a murder scene, the list is endless yet each one scores fantastically.

Noteworthy mention to the music director Santhosh Narayanan and sound engineer Rasool Pookutty for bringing to life, the innumerable unseen supportive characters around the lead role.

Voice of actress Gayathrie adds texture to the wife's role. The psychiatrist character, imprints the innocent harmless side of the character on which we ride thought-out the movie, until the dodgy ploy takes you unannounced in the climax but you are still convinced and keep rooting for the lead character. That’s the success of the movie.

A good watch.

Nerkonda Paarvai

 Nerkonda Paarvai

2019, Tamil, Zee5, 8.2/10 IMBD, Directed by H.Vinoth

A near perfect honest remake, a slow paced non glorifying movie, where the stardom of the actor is solely used in shouldering the ‘core of the movie’, in rendering the ‘The Dire Message', to all the chauvinist men and anxious parents of girl children, in this side of the world.

H. Vinoth under Boney Kapoor productions with ace technicians in his kitty , remaking of a blockbusting head turner from the north, Pink, what can go wrong?

There were many things that might have made this remake movie bite dust. For instance, the flash back addition which was not in the original, could have made the director succumb to the Kollywood’s sentiment to give the Tamil audience, a tear jerking rape sequence for the hero’s wife, just to substantiate, why the hero helps the neighbor girls from a molestation case.

Or it could have been a daughter or sister whom the hero failed to save, making him vow that he will be a guardian angle for all destitute women of the world. Thank God it was, Deeran Adhigaram One‘s director and not Atlee that the producer vested his investment with. God saved us all.

The movie credits role out in pitch dark with no titles for Ajith, no back ground score and it sure does preps you for the kind of movie we are seated in.

The first half was unconvincing at certain places with the vacantly staring Ajith, but when justified later on, that the hero is in a state of depression after loosing his lady love and their unborn twin, just while he was held up professionally and nobody to assist his pregnant wife at home. Thank God yet again for it was not because of any weird, never heard of rare medical scenario.

The second half of the movie, kick started with the court sequences and it engages you fairly well. Even though you are familiar with the core story, there seem to be a sense of relatability in the star cast and the familiar language quotient.

Call me prejudiced, it did give me a bigger impact, when I heard Ajith argue in Tamil for the dusky skinned, ‘girl next door', simple clothed urban girls, made me grow fonder of the movie.

Having Vidhya Balan acting in Tamil is a celebration in itself. But somehow felt sorry for Ajith, as the chemistry didn’t work much. Would have been content if Nithya Menon would have done the role.

The girls Shraddha, Abirami and Andrea were totally convincing and Abirami stood out with her expressive lost eyes.

Shraddha fell a little short with Tapsee nailing the role in the original. Nevertheless Shraddha addressed the role in her own style of expressing the helpless mortifying situation in the court with her dad around.

The Telugu remake movie of 1984,‘Vidhi’, which ran successfully for a year in theaters, was critically acclaimed for similar storyline in different context pertaining to the issues of that decade and the movie ended with, 'the then revolutionary verdict' of not forcing the girl to marry the rogue who cheated her in the first place and rather punish him for his offence.

Here in NKP, similar escalated issues that our independent girl children face in their work environment and in the multi cultural society, gets a revolutionary verdict which supports the message, when girl says NO, it’s a NO.

Premarital sex, women losing virginity, women consuming alcohol, girls judged on the way they dress and their friendly body language, the movie addresses it all.

Recently we were left to dwell on the Tamil proverb of saree and thorn, needle and thread kind of weakening nonsenses, making us even judgmental in the episodes of Bigg Boss, when a girl declares her love or liking for another contestant and stoops with low self esteem.

The movie uses the same old proverbs and hits bulls eye, in an absolute non preachy mode, how we women are coerced all our lives, with our biological makeup used as a weapon to threaten us from expressing our likes and dislikes.

Pandey was a let down. He could have played the role easily with the natural stern face which he wears on all his interview. But he lost it by his weirdo body language in the name of sarcasm.

The role in the original was a stereo typed one, but the director could have used Pandey's strengths rather than making him try an unfamiliar forte.

Yuan music wasn't remarkable but helped us get in to the mood of the movie.

Have to give it to Ajith, for his slow paced intense dialogue delivery to make the impact loud and clear.

Kudos for him in choosing this script, as it wouldn’t have reached the masses, if it weren’t for a huge fan following mass star, Ajith.

Aadai

 Aadai

2019, Tamil, amazon Prime, 6.3/10 IMDB, Directed by Rathna Kumar

With a judgment on 'Public Prank Ban', this movie falls short on outdated concept, but scores with counsel on restraints of feminism and some scintillating talents.

Aadai, a second venture by Rathna Kumar of Meyadha Maan fame, does gleam to glory besides its roguish picturization and occasional spiteful dialogues.

The animation intro on the fight for the right to 'dress', preps you for the story as you are much aware of the nude scenes which were hyped and as well maligned.

The traits on which the movie travels and it's making does remind you of the recent blockbuster 'Aruvi', even though both had different cores. The movie's social vexation is apparent through its satire in the first half and reformatory preach in the second.

It's that time of blossoming for Amala Paul as an accomplishing actor, to have few head turns toward her and her second innings is going to give some worthy scripts for the actress, no doubt. The nude scenes were shot with finesse, with no cringing from us, the audience.

The story's female lead has an attitude of betting and challenging her way through, to compete with men at par. It ranges from racing a bike on a traffic heavy road putting in danger the lives around, to socially drinking with co-workers becoming vulnerable herself. It does prick your sense, as to if that is coined as feminism, then it's shaming men more than shaming women.

Pretty ironies weave through the script. Mom cares to tuck her daughter's inner from not peeking through the side of her top, but daughter ending up trapped without a piece of clothing in the later half of the movie. In another scene mom is mocked by daughter for muddling up feminism with communism, but daughter eventually ends up being fooled to experience the consequences of feminism abuse.

The judgment on ban of prank shows was passed in April 2019 and this movie would have made a even bigger impact if it would have hit the screens before that. Nevertheless, it becomes a reiteration of that fact and even a kind of warning to such production houses.

Channeling of talents, to help snatch demons in the cover of deities, instead of the prank shows which they used to previously shoot scores well especially with the much debated #metoo name making it a welcomed gutsy move (the character's name Rathna Kumar resembles closely to that of a big name in #Metoo controversy in Tamilnadu, Rathna is precious as much as Diamond and Pearl, you see).

It was almost a complete package you would say, with fewer glitches here and there. The scenarios of getting trapped without a piece of cloth in a vulnerable ambience was a first of its kind imagination, we wouldn't have attempted to place oneself in before and kudos for that. Remember Super Deluxe Vembu's affair dying in the middle of love making. It's that novel but more nobler.

It did emphasis the bars on feminism. If it were a man in a similar situation, all he would need is, just his bare hands to cover his man parts and he could have escaped out of the situation with much ease compare to a woman.. Is it trending on chauvinist territory here, one is left all alone to ponder.

A good watch and appreciations for another newer attempt of story telling. Let's be the ancient Tamil swans of the puranas, to know how to take what is required and discard the rest instead of ridiculing it.

Uyare

 Uyare

2019, Malayalam, Netflix, 8.1/10 IMDB, Directed By Manu Ahsokan

A simple trail of an ambitious girl, amidst life playing 'fate', but she relentlessly sweeps us off our feet, making us fly beside her.

Where do I start to explain my 'Uyare' experience? I know I will be biased, as I correlate the lead to my soft hearted single daughter, who happens to be ambitious in choosing the path which is less travelled by her girl peers, who played her hardworking cards just right to jump off into her dream wagon and kept fighting all odds till day, dying to carve a niche for herself in the male dominant world..

I would only thank God, for not letting life play the cruel 'fate' as it does to the lead character of the movie, 'Pallavi', (played by the most tranquil 'Parvathy') which she is forced to put up and live with its consequences.

Heart reaches out to the characters of the movie, even to the antagonist to an extend till the sadist side of his is revealed much later..

We have witnessed many possessive stories on silver screen but this is a different kind, would even say this is a realistic version of all the news that we read about the twisted accused. Eventually you realize, one needn't be a cruel or ill born to turn to an accused but he simply becomes one when failures are not taught to be handled with proper guidance at the right time and age.

Every event happens in a smooth unrushed phase and even before you realize, the movie takes off to the next level, making you slowly move to the edge of the seat and start rooting for the lead woman, not out of pity but out of the emotion the movie transfers to the audience.

Tovino Thomas is an awesome choice to play 'the breathe of fresh air' in to the grim story, but what I appreciate is the director's choice of not making it a sloppy melodrama and keeping the spirit of the movie's core in tact, till the end credits.

Asif Ali scores as the antagonist, whose failure in life subtly turns to an unknowing green-eyed monster and the entire transition is happening so gradually, taking you by surprise when the true colour of his character comes out.

Parvathy, elegantly waltzing away with such ease, is a truly gifted artist. She brims with a variety of emotions one after other.. A word of caution for the slim and petite star of 'Mariyan' and the sleek damsel of 'Bangalore Days' and 'Charlie', who is trending now, a junior Kavya Madhavan and Nithya Menon in weight gain, which the director even made Tovino address it as mockery.(rather a caution in disguise may be)

The supporting roles were phenomenal, the father character by siddique was super subtle but when he asked his daughter, if this is the guy, with a certain amount of disbelief, he sure does score. The friend played by Samyuktha was a huge comfort.

The movie revolves against a flight attendant and that's where we tend to compare it with the real life noble story of stewardess 'Neeraja', but it's a personal battle that this lead in Uyare is playing and this is like a war that every new age adult is fighting and you are compelled to join the battle and lift the mace yourself. That's the success of the movie right there.

The debutant director Manu Ashoka is here to steal many hearts and awards in the lines of Director Blessy, as his story telling similarly details in right dose of emotions paired with right dose of drama.

Hope I haven't given much of the plot which I was cautious not to. Want you guys to watch it when it's releasing on small screen media or when you travel to a big city near you, like I did.

Close to heart performance, close to heart casting, close to heart director. A little lag here and there are totally justified to the nail biting climax and heart warming farewell to the lead woman.

Kudos team Uyare, you fly high with this venture of yours.

Kamba Ramayanam @ Golden Gates and Emerald Valley Schools, Salem

The Epic Saga, Kamba Ramayanam, a text renowned for its use of skillful poetic devices in its 10000 odd verses, is a pride of every Tamil ac...