Azhagan Azhagi

Director Nanda Periyasami isn’t a newcomer to the industry. Prior to Azhagan Azhagi he had two films under his belt, one of which – ‘Oru Kallooriyin Kadhai’ starring Arya and Sonia Agarwal, was warmly received by the audience. He returns after a hiatus to deliver ‘Azhagan Azhagi’ with the hope that he can cement his craftsmanship’s identity within the industry and with the masses.

Azhagan Azhagi opens with the heavily promoted ‘Terror Love Anthem’ featuring Power Star, not before he delivers a message saying that beauty lies within and cites himself as an example. His participation with the movie though ends right there! But the crux of his message is used to drive the plot in the first half.

A TV Channel unit sets out to audition unassuming villagers to become the next big act on primetime television. The unit undertaking the project involves the film's hero Jack Michael with the assistance of Aarthi and Chaams. Nanda Periyasami clocks too much of the first half with repetitive scenes of the auditions involving characters that don’t contribute anything to the plot. Most of these scenes are intended to be humorous but each one of the punchlines is dead on arrival and all the gags fall flat.

Even as the story begins with some promise to highlight the penetration of television into our daily lives and the aspirations of the townspeople, it soon embraces every possible movie cliché and piles up scenes that turn out exactly how you would have imagined. There is no real grip, neither is there any element of surprise. There is however a minor development to the story that comes in the form of the interval block. Then it’s back to chases, attempted comedy and an expected climax.

All the performances are hampered by creaky characterizations, not to mention the thin dialogues. Jack Michael has a role that encompasses all facets of a mainstream hero and he will be required to work harder in all departments. Aarushi plays a role that seems like a cross between Cinderella and Slumdog Millionaire, except that it focuses more on the distress rather than the character’s strength.

Apart from the wholly predictable plot, comedy is one of Azhagan Azhagi’s biggest let down as literally all the comic scenes are disinteresting. The technical department such as camerawork and stunts are all barely par for the course. When music director Kannan uses the ‘Terror Love Anthem’ during serious romantic scenes it tends to be unintentionally amusing.

In the end Azhagan Azhagi seemed like it had its moment of inspiration but then decided to borrow the rest from the existing volumes of Tamil cinema.