If watching Ajith put his sunglasses on while walking in slow motion to an abused theme music is your idea of a good movie; if you have no trouble rooting for a character with inarguably messed up moral issues; if you think consistent logic is not an imperative element in a script, then "Arrambam" is the film for you. You two deserve each other. For the rest of us who expect more, this thoroughly joyless film will seldom offer any of it.
Vishnuvardhan knows only one way to make his films chic - by populating them with good looking people using bloody expensive things. It worked for him in "Billa" because, let's face it, we had never seen anything like it before. He had the liberty to go the distance in "Billa" because it dealt with people who happened to be filthy rich gangsters. "Arrambam", on the other hand, is a film about a bunch of people who cannot be in possession of that kind of money. The reason is because people in this story are risking their life to bring to justice those very corrupt and powerful people celebrated in "Billa".
But Vishnu wants to have it both ways. He doesn't give up the pizzazz and bestows upon his working class characters a swag life which they could never possibly afford. He has them own cool gadgets, plant fancy explosives, fly around the world undetected, drive Ducatis and own big-ass yachts. Then he also makes them give us a moral science lecture and go all "Rang De Basanti" on a politician who swindles public money.
Arya's Arjun is the character we are initially supposed to root for. He plays a brilliant computer hacker named who probably owns a special computer with a button that has the words "Start hacking" written on it. Maya suggests Arjun's name to AK (Ajith) because he once hacked into SSN Engineering College's super-protected network and changed her attendance percentage. He is caught with people whose motives remain unknown to us and we are supposed to fear for his life. AK threatens to kill Arjun's girlfriend if he fails to hack into stuff. But the problem is that the girlfriend (named Anitha; played by Taapsee Pannu) is so magnificently stupid that a part of you wishes AK would put us all out of our misery by putting a bullet in her brain.
Vishnuvardhan is a good director.. when it comes to making music videos. Otherwise, there's nothing worthy about his technique at display in "Arrambam". There's a scene near the beginning where Nayanthara gives the fakest performance humanly possible when her character Maya gets abducted by some goons. Are we supposed to be surprised when she reveals that she had been in on the plan all along? Wow. Wonderful piece of direction there, man. You had me good. The style of "Arrambam" is highly derivative and instantly reminiscent of a dozen other movies. A lot of the film takes place in Mumbai, the new terror capital; but unlike, say, "Thuppakki", the city here has no real character and just lying there. But in a film where the characters themselves have no personality, expecting something from the locale is admittedly asking for too much.
Do directors who make films like "Arrambam" really think people of India do not have access to Hollywood films? I am not saying that "Arrambam" is inspired by one particular movie; I am saying that it has shades of one too many typical, dumb American action movies. We have seen those films already and we do not want you to try and fail at recreating the same with Indian actors. Watching you attempt making them is like watching a monkey on a rollerskate. Don't get me wrong; all I ask for is hints of originality in a story with convincingly believable treatment.
It's a heartless film from an inept director who believes one scene of mass poisoning is somehow enough for audience to root for AK, who himself is misguided and driven by revenge and a misplaced sense of justice. This elaborate scheme to bring down a corrupt politician comes into being after the death of an honest policeman- someone who also happened to be AK's dear friend. He is so overcome by inconsolable rage that he plans to steal zillions of dollars from the offshore accounts of all the dirty Indian politicians. But here's the catch: AK doesn't seem to have a problem that many innocent cops are getting killed along the way. He is shooting point blank at hapless constables who are taking him to prison. How do you expect audience to root for a cause which is reeking with hypocrisy? Don't tell me it was necessary for the greater good. In my book, no amount of money is worth the lives of those nameless cops. Don't give me that macro bullshit when the whole incident was set in motion by something so micro, so personal.
In Ajith's defense, I agree it has become hard for actors like him to break past preconceived notions that his fans hold in their mind. To them, it doesn't matter that their idol is playing a character who holds an iron box a few inches from a baby. If Thala is occupying a frame, they will cheer. But even if you isolate yourself from the reactions of fans, the movie still clearly comes off as to be designed for those very people. Right from the random opening song, it appears to be playing to the gallery. If you take away Ajith's offscreen persona from the character, there's little reason to root for the protagonist. There's nothing inherently cool about his AK. Through the course of the movie, you don't get to know him at all. He is just an amalgamation of certain very generic character traits.
Without getting into the fuckall climax and the absurd epilogue, let me just say "Arrambam" is as sophisticated as that Shut down button in its title art. Perhaps "Make it simple" is not the most appropriate mantra for the film.
In Ajith's defense, I agree it has become hard for actors like him to break past preconceived notions that his fans hold in their mind. To them, it doesn't matter that their idol is playing a character who holds an iron box a few inches from a baby. If Thala is occupying a frame, they will cheer. But even if you isolate yourself from the reactions of fans, the movie still clearly comes off as to be designed for those very people. Right from the random opening song, it appears to be playing to the gallery. If you take away Ajith's offscreen persona from the character, there's little reason to root for the protagonist. There's nothing inherently cool about his AK. Through the course of the movie, you don't get to know him at all. He is just an amalgamation of certain very generic character traits.
Without getting into the fuckall climax and the absurd epilogue, let me just say "Arrambam" is as sophisticated as that Shut down button in its title art. Perhaps "Make it simple" is not the most appropriate mantra for the film.