“Anniyan”
is the story of “Rules” Ramanujam,
a low-profile lawyer who is pained by the
lack of social consciousness, awareness and
civic sense that pervades the nation. The
only light of his life is Nandini (Sadha),
a pragmatic Brahmin girl who keeps him at
a distance. His close friend Chari (Vivek)
is the assistant of an upright police officer
(Prakashraj) who is assigned to solve the
gruesome murders committed by a mysterious
man who calls himself ‘Anniyan.’
Meanwhile Nandini rebuffs Ramanujam’s
love for her and instead falls for Remo, a
flamboyant model. How these three tracks crisscross
each other is what the central thread of “Anniyan”
is all about.
My
biggest disappointment with “Anniyan”
is the amateurishness of the Prakashraj investigation.
For no rhyme or reason, he appears in all
sorts of guises and does not make a single
deduction worth remembering. True, the Vaishnavism
portions are novel but they really do not
change the course of his investigation. All
this coming from the director whose handling
of the CBI investigation in “Indian”
was probably the best of its kind. “Indian”
was gripping because parties on both sides
of the law were intelligent and were constantly
outwitting each other. The lack of that intelligence
was one of the weak points of Silambarasan’s
“Manmadhan” and it is even more
glaring here because “Anniyan”
does not have the dramatic punch of “Indian”
to make it easy for the viewer to overlook
flaws. Shankar’s directorial flourishes
have always been on full display in his flashback
sequences which usually lend tremendous impetus
to the drama but here in “Anniyan,”
the flashback involving Vikram’s kid
sister feels rushed and this is one of the
reasons why the film never really grips us
with a sense of purpose.
The fact that the movie is so removed from
reality definitely takes a lot of sheen off
it. While I could make up a whole list of
logical blunders and improbable scenarios
in the movie, I will save your time (and mine)
by simply stating that a pale imitation of
one of the best scenes in “Indian”
(the one where “Indian” murders
“Nizhalgall” Ravi on television)
turns out to be one of the worst in “Anniyan.”
In “Indian,” Shankar took pains
to make a highly improbable scenario look
‘real.’ And the fact that Sujatha’s
dialogues sizzled with sharpness and intelligence
ensured that it was one of those great movie
moments. But here in “Anniyan,”
the scene set in the stadium is a long-drawn
sequence that could exist only in Shankar’s
fertile imagination! The setting is so ridiculous
that I could hardly bring myself to pay any
attention to the dialogues which again were
reminiscent of “Indian” (especially
the comments on Singapore and Japan) and “Mudhalvan”
(the lines about taxes and social awareness).
And, the fact that he tries to justify some
totally unwarranted murders (especially that
of Charlie’s) irked me a lot.
As you can see, it is probably my strong liking
of Shankar’s previous, more focused
efforts that is preventing me from viewing
this movie on its own terms (like Roger Ebert
says, phenomenal success can sometimes be
an “albatross” around a filmmaker’s
neck!). But I have to admit that in spite
of my rant in the last couple of paragraphs,
I enjoyed the movie a lot! Three hours pass
by quickly because Shankar is a master of
moving a story briskly with multiple tracks.
The first half has some charming scenes involving
Vikram and Sadha, with Vivek (in top form)
contributing in no small measure with his
hilarious one-liners. The whole sequence in
Thiruvayaar is a delight, with Vivek’s
comments on Vikram’s “love letter”
invoking thunderous applause in the theater.
Shankar raises the tempo in the second half,
blending in the stories of Remo and Anniyan.
Remo’s love for the Sadha character
confirms my belief that Shankar has absolutely
no idea how to script a sensitive love story.
With Vikram gleefully chewing scenery in the
role of Remo, the portions are campy fun but
theirs is a love story without a soul. The
sequence at night where Remo clears the roof
of her house pales in comparison to the beautifully
conceived “Nila Udayavillai” sequence
in “Kudaikkull Mazhai.” But one
of the strengths of “Anniyan”
is the sustained intensity of the concluding
portions. Again, Shankar takes preposterousness
to new levels in many a sequence but Vikram’s
performance saves the day for him. Be it rapidly
alternating between his ‘avatars’
or projecting a certain earnestness as Ambi,
Vikram never fails to convince us, even when
in the midst of some unbelievable settings
or while spouting lengthy monologues about
the utopian society of his dreams. His scenes
with Nasser (in a small role as a psychiatrist)
and Prakashraj bring out the expressive actor
in him.
The supporting cast features capable performers
but none of them have been given fully fleshed
out characters by the Director. Sadha lacks
the looks or the acting chops to be a leading
lady. She hardly has any scenes worth remembering.
Prakashraj, Nedumudi Venu and Nasser are all
wasted in insignificant roles, especially
Prakashraj, who has been crafting several
varied characters of late. It is only Vivek
who lends able support and comes up with one-liners
that crackle with wit, whenever the pace begins
to flag a bit.
Technically too, the movie belongs to the
good-but-not-great category. Harris Jeyaraj’s
score for the movie is of the foot-tapping
variety with cool numbers like “Iyengar
Veetu Azhagey,” “Remo” and
the extremely catchy “Kannum Kannum
Nokia” but the track on the whole is
not a memorable one. The song sequences in
this movie are grand but not especially appealing.
The “Kumari” song is shot in the
midst of millions of flowers but does not
have the simple beauty of the close-up shot
of a solitary rose at the beginning of the
“Kadhal Rojave” song in “Roja”
(A Roja is a Roja is a Roja!). The sets for
“Iyengar Veetu Azhagey” looked
like pieces stolen from a T. Rajendar set!
And the grating “Randakka” song
features some gaudy art work too. But the
one song that has all the trademarks of a
slick Shankar song sequence is “Kannum
Kannum Nokia.” Shot at the airport in
Malaysia, the song is elegantly choreographed,
marvelously lit and imaginatively decorated
(the water-bed, for instance).
In conclusion, “Anniyan” fails
to enlighten us but does not fail to entertain!
