AAMBALA MOVIE REVIEW

Sundar C's Aambala has this election campaign sequence, in which the hero asks the leader of the party he supports, to throw a question to public, addressing a Ramasamy, asking about his welfare and also his coconut tree's well-being. Immediately, a random person, from the gathering, gets up, thanking the leader for remembering a nobody like him (and his coconut tree), and promises, on behalf of the entire crowd, that his vote is for this party only. When asked how he knew of this Ramasamy,  the hero reasons, 'every village will have someone called Ramasamy who will have a coconut tree'!!! 

 

The same can be said for Sundar C directorial too. Every Sundar C movie will have this and this. His plots, despite their weak logic, work every time. Such is his command over his craft. For instance, in Aambala, a mother, who comes to know that her husband had an affair before marrying her, rushes away from her husband. In the process, she takes away her elder son, but leaves behind her younger son because he is in school, and never bothers about the left-behind son, until years later. Such implausibilities don't pose a disturbance because you don't mind them. Because, something else is happening; because the director knows what will be forgotten and what will be remembered. 

 

Aambala is another of Sundar C's old wine in a polished-to-look-like-new bottle, that will work, like always. 

 

Vishal is at the center of his big and broken family, which he tries to mend along with his seconds, Vaibhav Reddy and Sathish. He gets to mouth the typical 'mass hero' punch lines - "Naa arasiyalukku koottam sekkuravan, kootatha vechu arasiyal seiyaravan illa", "Paasama pesinaale polanthu kattuven, panthayam vera potrukeenga - pattaiya kelappuren paarunga", and more... He also gets to shake his legs for songs set in foreign locales.

 

Santhanam is the other pillar of the movie - though he does not have duets- he has not one, but two great opening scenes, each in the two halves. 

 

Hansika plays Vishal's love interest, and looks ravishing. Her costume designer deserves a special pat for the choice of her apparels. 

 

Everybody else - Prabhu, Ramya Krishnan, Aishwarya, Kiran, and so many others - play their parts convincingly. 

 

The other person to credit will be DoP Gopi Amarnath, who makes all his subjects, look great! The slow-mo shots of the entire family, dancing together, in the 'Yaarena Sonnalum' song, was a treat to watch.

 

Special credits to debutant music composer Hiphop Tamizha, whose style of pacy songs work very well for these kinds of comedies that will have to move fast to engage. He does a neat job. 

 

Ultimately, Aambala is a classic Sundar C premise, and he makes the 2.5 hours go by with everything that's expected of him.