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Friday, May 17, 2024
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TAMIL VAARANAM AAYIRAM
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ***
Vaaranam Aayiram, which means `a thousand
elephants` in Tamil, is a Surya film all the way. The actor strides through it
with his double role, giving a scintillating performance.
The tale is about a goody-goody relationship between father and son. Surya plays
a wizened old man, Krishnan, in the autumn of his life and a strapping army
major with aplomb..
The 33-year-old Surya even sends the audience into complete disbelief looking
every inch a 17-year-old for a brief while in the film.
The story recalls the touching moments in a family that has only love for each
of its members - comprising father, mother (played by Simran) son and his
girlfriends (Sameera Reddy and Divya Spandana) spread between India and the US.
While it first describes the love between the father and his wife in the 1970s,
it also beautifully portrays the son`s love life many years later.
After a love affair in Chennai, the protagonist head to the US, where he sweeps
the fashionable and chic Sameera Reddy off her feet.
Playing men of different ages and times, Surya makes subtle changes in his gait,
body language and dialogue delivery, thereby creating different shades to his
two roles.
The time difference between father and son is also shown with painstaking
digital detail.
The cinematography by Rathnavel is excellent as he matches the digitally
superimposed visuals with live images.
Hit music in all the seven songs by Harris Jayaraj provides the icing to the
cake.
Director Gautham Menon has exceeded himself in creativity, extracting great work
from his cast.
The over-sweet nature of the story and its lagging length in the second half are
its minus points that pale into insignificance due to Surya`s brilliant essay of
the two roles and a moving climax.
Actor-producer Suriya Sivakumar penned an emotional to his fans for being an honest support system in his 20-year-long cinematic journey, which he says has been about trying to push the envelope.Read More
Music is young Surya`s passion. For him, the music from his guitar resembles reflects life`s sensations. With music as his escape hatch, Surya is capable of transporting himself to places far and away from reality. What happens to this all-consuming zeal? Does it stop by just remaining his dilettante effort or does he dare to carry it through his life`s changing times and tides? Is it the same music that lands him in a career in the army? What gives this delicate performer the strength and mindset to work in the tough, danger-ridden war fields?
Does Surya ever fall in love? Is love a part of his youthful flings? Does Priya (Divya Spandana) win his heart and stay to become his soulful partner? what predicaments force Surya to meet and marry Megha (Sameera)? How do failures and successes alter his personality? Vaaranam Aayiram drifts through Suriya`s life, chronicling all his feelings. Through the course of this turbulence comes another sweet and short love story, that of his parents Krishnan (Suriya) and Malini(Simran)
