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| Aayirathil
Oruvan - A different perspective |
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| By
Behindwoods Visitor Raghuraman R |
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| The
views expressed in this column are that of
the visitor. Behindwoods.com doesn't hold
responsible for its content. |
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Hi,
Umberto Eco said 'Images are
the literature of layman'. Books
are often perceived as 'high
art' because readers follow
the vision of the writer more
closely. The fact that reading
a book needs far more patience
than say seeing a movie, could
be one reason. With a limited
and probably more erudite audience,
good reviews (not necessarily
praises) and criticisms often
come from responsible sources
with a good background of the
work in question.
It is not surprising especially
in India that movies are subject
to the easiest criticisms from
most people. I do not see a
good review of 'Aayirathil Oruvan'
till date. The movie should
be reviewed with the right perspective.
Simplistic reviews of films
like 'Pudhupettai' that 'it
is too violent' do not give
any sensible perspective. A
reviewer cannot talk for the
audience. Reviewer(s) should
try to look at different perspectives
of the product. More importantly,
reviewer(s) have to go with
the director (actually the 'Creator')
in his product to first comprehend
what he has made. At the end
of the journey, they are in
a position to comment on the
journey and future ramifications,
if any.
With this perspective, I went
into a journey that is 1 in
1000. Aayirathil Oruvan is probably
the first attempt in Indian
cinema at a genre of fantasy
and it would not be wise to
compare with any non-Indian
film or even non-Tamil films.
Any review of this movie has
to start with this perspective.
Most films are pseudo-fiction
because the viewers are either
expected to know or assuming
some 'truths' as given for the
film. For instance, if one 'character'
talks about going from Chennai
to New York in a bus, it is
treated as a flaw. It ideally
should not be because it is
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fiction. If 'truth's have such a value,
morals do not come into 'picture'.
In this film, the director has chosen fantasy
as the genre and for the journey of fantasy,
he has taken a simple story. There are three
principal characters, a manager, a scholar
and a worker. A manager has taken up a project
with a 'public' motive - to search one person
(who is that?) and takes the help of scholar
and lot of workers. A scholar has a 'protected'
motive of searching for her missing parent.
A worker leads his comrades for just earning
his bread. The manager is ruthless and non-compromising
in her goal. The scholar unravels the mystery
and worker comes out of his shell to show
his human side. The project has many downsides
with worker shocked by the loss of colleagues
and even wants to call it quits. The scholar
is eager on the pursuit of knowledge. Most
importantly, the manager is on the pursuit
of self-interests. The worker has to follow
suit and personal attraction to the humane
scholar is an extra attraction.
The manager does whatever is needed to achieve
her personal goal, whether it is seducing
the workers or even the final 'person' in
question. The scholar is able to reasonably
predict the threats to come - snakes, hunger,
thirst and even madness. The final man or
the king or the client is aghast that the
manager has duped him. He contemplates suicide
but wants to give a final shot at the client(s).
He dies in the process but the worker escapes
with the next generation. It is not really
known if the director wanted to give messages
in the 'story' for the journey. History
repeats itself and no matter how educated
we are, the likes of manager have indelible
'hates' and would do ANYTHING to venture
out to eradicate the same.
Well, almost!
My comment is that it is a splendid journey
that director embarked upon and should not
be nit-picked for chaste 'Tamil' or minor
dubbing errors, for dialogues are not too
many. Regarding blood or gore, the film
is anyway certified 'A' and if people come
with their family (that’s what I saw
in the theatre), I can’t blame the
director.
Raghuraman R
raghuraman.r@gmail.com |
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