Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer

Actor Vishal had spoken very highly about Director Suseenthiran’s Aadhalaal Kadhal Seiveer (AKS) a few weeks back in an interview to Behindwoods and our expectations about the movie naturally shot up.

 

Suseenthiran is known for quality movies such as Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu and Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai. He has always been choosing diverse subjects in each of his movies and now he has based his latest movie on a teenage romance, set in an engineering college in Chennai. Selvaraghavan had towed a similar line, a decade back in Thulluvadho Ilamai but his setting was a school. 

 

Here, Suseenthiran has not just stopped with showing the rosy side of such hormone-driven college romance but he has also focussed extensively on the striking realities and grim consequences that arise from such a romance. 

 

The first half has its share of fun thanks to some lively characters in the college such as Arjun (earlier seen in Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi), the guy with a feminine voice and

the reference to Mankatha Ajith’s salt ‘n’ pepper hair. Arjun keeps the mood light amid the tension around, with his spontaneous comments. The girl who plays Manisha’s best friend Jenny, is another important character and she adds a different angle to the proceedings. 

 

The way teenage lovers coolly resort to lying, to save their skin at home is again enjoyable. But we get the feeling that save romance, nothing else is on their mind. We might also wonder if ‘crossing the limits’ is something which is so easy for this generation’s youngsters. 

 

The running time of the movie is a crisp 106 mins and the screenplay is unwavering. The gripping family drama really takes the movie along, post the intermission and the finale is sure to leave a lump in your heart as we are shown the unfortunate little victim of this entire episode.

 

The casting in AKS is mostly on the mark with Jayaprakash and Thulasi as the heroine’s parents, investing their heart and soul into the movie. Under intense duress, both these actors mirror how parents would react in real life. Jayaprakash brings out the concern and helplessness in his body-language while Thulasi stands as a pillar of support for her troubled daughter in the end. Poornima Bhagyaraj as the hero’s mother doesn’t have much of a role compared to Thulasi. 

 

The way both the families react to the crisis on hand and how people respond to the same situation in a different manner, are nice lessons in human behavioral dynamics. This brings out some really engaging drama in the second half.  

 

The hero Santhosh Ramesh could have been a lot more spontaneous. Manisha Yadav plays the vulnerable and the emotionally fickle college girl pretty well and this is an extension of her role in Vazhakku Enn 18/9. She too has some scope to improve. The chemistry between the lead actors could have been more sparkling. 

 

Yuvan Shankar Raja proves why he is the ‘Little Maestro’ in the finale of the movie and the little pathos song sung by Yuvan himself, will surely move you. The little child that comes in these scenes is a delight to watch though it’s really heart-wrenching as well. Great work by the team in capturing all the myriad reactions of this child in a candid manner. 

 

Among Yuvan's songs, ‘Mella Sirithal’ is well-choreographed and comes in the title credits. ‘Thappu Thanda’ has been aesthetically shot too. He has composed some extra songs for the BGM score of the movie and they gel seamlessly with the screenplay. 

 

The cinematography by Soorya is functional and shines through in the songs particularly.

On the whole, AKS is a ‘slice of life’ tale topped by a really impactful climax. Teenagers and their parents ought to watch this one, for sure.

555

Firstly rounds of applause to Bharath and Sasi for making this film finally happen after tremendous delay. 555 is a cocktail of everything, however it’s best to be classified in the romantic thriller genre with a small dosage of fun as well. Bharath is counting a big comeback through this film and will be sitting fingers crossed. After diverse movie making through Poo and Rojakootam, Director Sasi comes out with a thriller, so let us take our Binoculars to see how it has come out.

The Plot:
The movie is a galore of twists and turns, the suspense element just keeps piling up through the movie and off late this is one of the best thriller movies without a doubt. And being a thriller movie with high suspense quotient, it would be unfair to reveal the storyline that might break the anticipation. Bharath plays Aravind a guy suffering severe trauma from the loss of his love Liyana(Mirthika) after they are struck in an unfortunate accident. Santhanam plays Bharath’s brother who takes care during the days of his loneliness and what follows on forms the plot of the movie. Thanks to some crystal clear cinematography by Saravanan the movie looks spot-on delivering the objective of the director.

The Good and Bad stuff:
For a few minutes into the first couple of scenes, it is sure to make us nostalgic of Ghajini, nevertheless the carefully scripted movie weaves away in its own pace making an impression. The love scenes between Bharath and Mirthika is adorable and poignantly portrayed, add to it a load of cuteness. Mirthika is sure to be the find of this year, her actions are simply awesome and one scene in particular when she reacts to Bharath on the phone in astonishment over his pranks is simply delightful. Sasi has intelligently made this movie look believable without stereotyping the intelligence of the heroes so that you don’t go “Oh yet again”.

The lengths and breadths of how love can make someone change is a one liner on what the movie is, where the protagonist will scavenge through anything for his lost love. Sasi is a gifted story teller of love with his previous outings always rendering love very sensitively, however this is something with aggression infused in an awe-inspiring way.

Bharath has put his heart and soul in this movie, making it worth the wait. His transformation from an urban cool dude to a steel gritted toned angry hunk is amazing, even though the justification for his clenched body is never shown in a convincing manner. All said, this might be the movie that could bring back him to the limelight again.

The rest of the cast are adequate enough to fill their roles neatly. Though being a movie with all serious intentions, Santhanam’ s crackers does light you up. Erica as the other heroine also fills her role with enough suspense elements. One of the biggest letdowns from this movie is the way the villain is pigeonholed, the usual mistakes all directors do. The kick and extra punch is clearly missing. The art work and set is impeccably done, the accident and its after math is so realistic, hats off to the team. However the stunts and fighting are monotonous with nothing to crave for.

Simon’s dives well with a few of the songs, the visuals are fun to watch especially Vizhiyile has some creative work that would go well. However the BGM is a disappointment not giving the thump during aggressive scenes. Two of the songs are absolutely misplaced and cutting them down would’ve reduced the length as well, even though the screenplay does not drag.

Alright, everything said and tested, was the publicity enough for this racy thriller? and will it catapult the box office good enough during Thalaivaa’s absence? A question to wait and watch as it was released rather in a hushed manner and might need some hefty promotion, as the makers would not want a good movie to die down that easy.