Vaaranam Ayiram - Review

Vaaranam Ayiram evoked mixed response in me albeit I like the movie on the whole - especially for Suriya. As many have pointed out its sure the best that came from an actor in the recent times and what a transformation that Suriya goes through in each frame - a truly fantabulous performance!

As I read in one of the blogs (I think it’s brangan's) - even I'm skeptical about the movies where the hero plays the role of father & son. It’s always that only one character stands out in prominence and there are lots of examples like Nettrikan, Oru Kaithiyien Dairy, innumerable Sarath Kumar flicks & so on. And in this aspect VA is no exception! It’s an out & out Suriya's dominance (I meant the character Suriya) and there are only some specific shots that show Krishnan’s (father of Suriya) importance. One of the biggest drawbacks of the movie is that – it’s all along marketed as a movie from father’s point of view or at least that’s what I could make out from all the interviews and tit-bits that Gautham provided to the media. In contrary it’s a movie from the son’s point of view and it’s more his life episodes and the movie just touch upon how his father (Krishnan) made a difference in his life. So the expectation mismatch is one of the negatives of this movie!

Episode based approach taken by Gautham in this movie – seems to have worked brilliantly. Especially Suriya & Sameera’s love affair is a live wire for this movie. And VA can be seen for this episode alone. I read somewhere that the movie first started off with this episode alone – or rather a love story and then it got changed post Gautham’s father’s death – as Gautham wanted to pay tribute to his father via this movie. In this due course – its gives me an impression that Gautham got completely confused! But since the movie goes in as various episodes in Suriya’s life – it makes an interesting watch.

I know that Gautham drew a lot of flak for including the kidnap episode! Even though Gautham can say that why NOT an extraordinary thing can happen in an ordinary man’s life – it doesn’t fly well with viewers like me who came into watch an intense father-son movie. Again it’s to do with the way in which the expectations were set before the movie release. Had it not been projected as a wholesome movie that talks about father-son relationship – this episode could have been justifiable especially given a 100% performance by Suriya. At the same time I must say that both the kidnap episodes were taken with painful perfection!

Coming to Suriya-Sameera love affair – it’s one of the most refreshing scenes taken in Tamil cinema and it will certainly be a major crowd puller – especially the college kids. The scene where Suriya pulls off “En Iniya Pon Nilave” in his guitar is a classic – and I’m sure that it will be lapped up by all the wanna-be lover boys. When it goes Berkeley University – it’s more of a visual treat – until a point of time when Suriya breaks down in tears talking to his parents. And I second Gautham – when he said that Suriya is definitely the best actor that we have today next only to Kamal. You must watch this gut pouring his heart out!

After all the expectations set by Gautham about this movie as a one paying tribute to his late father – it would be unfair if I don’t talk about Krishan’s character in this movie – also played by Suriya. Undoubtedly, its every youngster’s dream to have such a father at home. Special mention to a scene where Krishnan sits on the floor with a peg of whisky in one hand listening to his son’s jamming session and him being the first one to sing along! It conveys so many things – and the most prominent one being the kind of pride that is seen in Suriya’s (son character) eyes and the way he is seen by his friends. Another thing that deserves a special mention is – even though Krishan falls short of money – the way in which he handles it with his head held high – a fantastic characterization!

And there are two other main pillars in this movie – music and camera. Both are simply awesome – pick of the lot is “Nenjukkul Peithidum” song!

On the whole VA is certainly a good watch and it’s to Gautham’s credit that all the negatives of this movie can be ignored if you don’t get in with the expectations set by Gautham himself. And if not for anything, go watch it for Suriya alone – this man is exemplary and he makes it work!