Yennai Arindhaal - 2015 ***

Yennai Arindhal draws me back to write a review. If you are looking for a movie with new frames and plot - No , but this is for a team who has hit the right chords after hitting wrong doors for years and years.Though not a Ajith fan  - I have always loved Gautham Menon for his Minnale,KK,VV even his NEPV. The panic to survive might bring you the best or the worst from any one who is out there in Celluloid. Gautham’s panic is visible in every frame and his screen has stretched in every possible way to deliver his compilation of a Cop’s life. 

If you accept  the protagonist Ajith getting defeated, getting hit , lose all his loved ones – then you are understanding the slickness of Actor Ajith who is a raise of Lovable Gentleman in every frame, until he meets the antagonist Arun Vijay. Nevertheless this is like a Match for a batsman who has scored three consecutive ducks , who is going to play in Perth. There is no chance but to reinvent his old shots to look new to survive. Yennai Arindhal definitely doesn’t bring the best of Gautham but he has brought a new challenged way which is definitely gripping in parts.

The first half of the movie rides by safe sticking to Gautham’s older template of So charming, Untouched romance,trying to be  feel good.  But it stretches beyond a point to become a mere collation of Satyadev’s fall. Poor writing, familiar BGM, poor editing puts a reverse gear to all the hype .Film starts with a boring 30 minutes till Trisha enters. Movie rides slowly, May be you will forget every thing happened to you when you leave the hall.

Wait -  You will witness what   Sriram Raghavan ( Dir : BluffMaster) , Thiagarajan Kumaravel raja (Dir : Aranya Kandam ) have done to this script along with GVM , only when the plight of Ajith and Arun Vijay arrives. Suddenly from nowwhere the first half looks excusable, all the poor writing is forgotten.  When they face it to do it one more time with the kidnap of a girl, the movie picks up. The introspection of Good and bad is told in every possible narration, that it doesn’t become a Hero’s way. Gautham has to be lauded for breaking his template in a way but not completely though. He tries not to receive mixed reviews, Which he is aware could spoil the fate . His usual gangster work, his usual plots, his usual chases , the same house types !! What are we seeing new here ? Two enormously talented actors fighting each other to establish themselves. One to break his image, other to survive since entering the industry in 1995.

The thriller elements are submissive, it touches Kakha Kakha, VV, it even touches Varanam Ayiram. But do we have to whine? Foul mouthed conversations, gripping actions this movie doesn’t look new at all. But we are seeing it new because for Ajith and Arun Vijay. We know these two could be a beast if fed with proper flesh. As Ajith says “ that moment hell broke loose “  arrives from second half when they fight for proving their choice of thin life as Protagonist and Antagonist.

GVM would have made a better movie than VV, if Yennai arindhal was before NEPV and Nadunisi Naigal. Here the scarier he walks , the darker it gets .Some how he finds the light with these two actors and stupefying Camera of Don. There is one more guy who needs a survival – Harris Jeyaraj, except for Benny Dayal song every thing sounds super normal. But he also turns a crime partner in the last 45 minutes of the movie.

Yennai Arindhal may not be a great movie by GVM but definitely a challenging movie for Ajith and Arun Vijay. It could have been a straight forward than being non linear, which I found it to be a let down . But Ajith has been colossal in bringing what GVM had in mind about Satyadev. I liked the way the screen play was made with a choice you make take it the either way=  Good or Bad . I was super happy when GVM made a movie for him, than for Ajith. That makes a better experience !!! To make a great experience you will need a better script !!!