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EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: *** 1/2
Debutant Thiagarajan Kumararaja`s Aaranya Kaandam, which won the
Grand Jury Award for best film at the South Asian International Film Festival,
gives a realistic account of the world of gangsters.
The film begins with a quote - Anything which is the need of the hour is
dharma - supposedly by legendary Chanakya in 300 BC. As expected, the film
is based on the same philosophy.
The movie opens with an old man trying to make love to his young wife in vain.
His frustration finds an outlet in violence and the girl asks him, Why do
you beat me for your inability? The scene shifts to outside the house
where a set of goons are chatting. The man inside the house may be incapable of
having sex, but he is a don.
Welcome to the darker side of Chennai, north Chennai to be precise. Producer S.P.
Charan and director Kumararaja have tried to tread on a new path - the path of
harsh realism.
The director has chosen to show us the cruel world of gangsters and the
narrative does full justice to the theme. He has avoided cliches and any
deviation in the name of comic relief or romantic flavour.
The story revolves around Singam Perumal (Jackie Shroff), a powerful don, his
right-hand Pasupathy (Sampath Raj), and his arch rival Gajendran (Rambo Rajkumar),
another gangster.
Pasupathy brings up a proposal to outsmart Gajendran by appropriating a
narcotics parcel sent for the latter. His plan is perfect but Singam doesn`t
want to take any risk. Pasupathy teases his master by citing his age as the
reason for the cautious approach.
The don gets angry and decides to eliminate his lieutenant. After all, anything
that is the need of the hour is dharma. Pasupathy somehow escapes from his
clutches. Pasupathy is now being hunted by two gangs and he is running to save
his life.
The side track involves Singam`s wife Subbu (Yasmeen Ponnappa) and Sappai (Ravikrishna),
a weak man, the object of fun in the gang. Subbu uses Sappai to get out of her
sexual frustration. She even tries to escape from the clutches of the old man.
Anything which is the need of the hour is dharma.
Meanwhile, the narcotics parcel accidentally lands in the hands of a poor man.
The man is full of pride but his son is quite pragmatic and clever. While the
father is caught by Singam`s gang, the son escapes with the parcel and tries to
save his father.
The paths of the boy and Pasupathy intersect and the latter grabs the chance to
change his fortunes. He uses the boy`s plight to save his life. Anything which
is the need of the hour is dharma.
The movie is made without much loopholes or cinematic liberties. The climax
fight stands out while the scene showing the poor father and son weeping in the
street touches your heart.
The lone drawback is that the theme fails to rise above the realm of the chosen
backdrop.
In terms of acting, Jackie Shroff in the role of a rusty don steals the show
with his matured and flawless performance. Sampath Raj is not far behind. Even
Ravikrishna has rendered a decent performance in a different role while Yasmeen
Ponnappa is quite impressive as a deprived girl turning to be a schemer.
The dialogues are realistic and philosophical. The background score by Yuvan
Shankar Raja adds a new dimension to the narrative (the movie doesn`t have any
song). The editing of Praveen K.L. and Shrikanth N.B is stylish and in sync with
the genre. Cinematographer Vinod has added credibility to the script with his
camera angles and colours.
Thiagarajan Kumararaja has given us a gangster movie which stands out with its
realistic portrayal and no-nonsense treatment. Good performances, effective
dialogues, slick editing and amazing camerawork help the movie stand out from
the crowd.