Aaranya Kaandam

"Aaranya Kaandam" is a story about drug trafficking and unfolds over a duration of 24 hours. The movie is based on the significant moments in the lives of the seven leading characters. It is supposedly the first new-noir film in Tamil cinema. This was one of the most awaited movies for me and it was released after almost a year of tribulations with the censor board. It won the Grand Jury award in South Asian International Film Festival last year.

The film is about narcotics and a convoluted rivalry between Singaperumal (Jackie Shroff), Gajendran (Rambo Rajkumar) and Pasupathi (Sampath Raj) attempts to grab it. The Director, Thiagarajan Kumararaja, builds up a nice tempo and takes his own time to build and establish each character.

Jackie Shroff in the character of dreadful Singam Perumal has performed outstandingly. His performance was close to perfection in many scenes, every scene of his brimming with reality.Ravi Krishna has been given a complete image makeover when compared to his earlier ventures. He has improved his acting skills a lot and portrayed emotions well on screen. Ravikrishna as Sappa ( a metaphor of fun, impotence, illiteracy…etc) will be remembered as one of the most interesting roles in his career. Sampath Raj did well and his body language, dialogue delivery boosts the mood of the film. In his intro-scene, his voice was so manly that it gave me goosebumps. He was at his best, performing with perfection throughout. Yasmeen Ponnappa is tailor-made for the character of Subbu (Subbulakshmi). Somasundaram, Rambo Rajkumar, Ajay Raj are adequate. Another character worthy of mention is the boy Kodukapuli ("Veyil" Vasanth) who deserves appreciation for his acting. His (kodukapuli) chemistry with Somasundaram (kaalayan) was highly impressive. Vinod's camera has captured the darker sides of city life well and his sense of lighting has worked wonders in bringing the right mood. Yuvan Shankar Raja has given us fantastic re-recording and background score which gave the right feel. He deserves all the praises he's been getting since the release of the film. The use of old songs in the background for some scenes that depict the mood in the scene is smart (don't know whether it was director's idea or Yuvan's) .Editing by the duo Praveen K. L. and N. B. Srikanth are crisp.

It is certainly not a movie for children or family audiences, for its highly stylised violence (Quentin Tarantino-ish) and abusive language. Thiagarajan Kumararaja has made a mighty impressive debut with a tight screenplay and superb dialogue writing. Even though many critics felt the film to be slow, I felt editing even a single scene would have dramatically brought down the effect on the audiences. Even though there were a large number of foul mouthed dialogues, they blended well with the screenplay. Others were voluntarily beeped by the team. The casting was simply perfect and acting was impeccable.

"Aaranya Kaandam" was a classy gangster tale and the way it has been conceptualized, executed definitely needs recognition. Hope Aaranya Kaandam becomes a trend setter for the new movies to come. Thiagarajan Kumararaja is a rare find and kudos to SP Charan and Capital film works for bringing him in to the realm of Tamil Cinema. Producer SPB Charan's bravery should be appreciated for producing such films (Previous CHENNAI-600028). He struggled a lot for releasing the film. #Alwaysrespect .But the sad part of Tamil cinema is that brilliant efforts like this are hardly noticed as it does not have the required masala ingredients packaged in it.

I stopped short of giving this movie a 10/10 rating solely because of it's somewhat glorified portrayal of violence, other than that this is one heck of a movie which should have ideally been a milestone in modern Tamil cinema but fell short of achieving that landmark solely because it didn't have 1. Big stars in the movie 2. Big production house 3. Promotions (This movie virtually had no promotions at all) 4. Big technical Crew (Apart from Yuvan Shankar Raja of course)

Here by BIG i imply established popular personnel. This movie had excellent technical values compared to the garbage dished out in the name of commercial cinema every other day and you have to see the movie for yourself to believe what a movie you have missed. The techniques used by the director to portray certain intense situations, the way the characterization is done, the way the movie is kept moving at a break-neck speed, The way the director makes us anticipate even clichéd scenes by smart editing techniques and many more should be watched by yourself to believe it and appraise the excellence! People should endorse such HONEST and INTELLIGENT attempts so that others too would come out and try new things or at least director Thiagarajan Kumararaja would come up with a new project (as of now he is not committed to any new project even after crafting a masterpiece like Aaranya Kaandam!).

Not great stars, no big names..and bad marketing too; Yet a simplistic trailer, profound enough to attract anyone to watch the film....How else could the show have been full?

Aaranya Kaandam refers to the 14 most testing years of Rama in the forests, in exile, in despair for love and in grave danger too. The forest turns into the battleground, here North Madras-known for it's dark nature and it's abusive form of Tamil.

Singamperumal (Jackie Shroff), supreme controller of drug trade through Chennai, has his own share of competitors in the form of Gajendran and his aide Gajapati, who could turn as mad as elephants, that could crumble anything across. Pasupathi (Sampath), on Singam's side, aspires to stand on his own, thus incurring the wrath of Singamperumal.

Meanwhile the old mafia has an other side, the despair of not satisfying his 'wife' Subbu (Yasmin Ponnappa), who had been tricked and brought there under the promise of making her a star. Just as the trailer precisely describes-"Raavanan kulathila oru Vibheeshanan'a madhiri", there is Chappa (Ravi Krishna) , an innocent deer in the midst of lions. He has a soft corner towards Subbu and she woos Chappa in a motive to escape from the lion's clutches.

At the same time, a yesteryear zamindaar, who had lost all his wealth foolishly arrives at Chennai with his acid-tongued ten year old, Kodukkapuli. They are in an emergency to find money, fearing the loaners might put his wife into a brothel on non-payment of credit. This is where they come across a huge bundle of cocaine smuggled in a hotel which is supposed to reach Singamperumal, which they take in a bid to amass wealth. And there starts the butterly effect...a war between Singamperumal, Pasupathi and the Gajas meanwhile Chappa plans to escape with his newfound love. All these lead to a spellbinding climax, deciding the fate of the three stories.

Performances from all quarters have been fabulous, notaby from Sampath, the Zameendaar and the girl, Subbu playing a powerful role impresses big-time. As she majestically walks at the climax accomplishing what she wished, one would feel like clapping, the climax has that surprise ingredient!

Yuvan Shankar Raja is yet again fantastic. The trick of ensuring a marvelous BGM seems to have been transmitted via blood into him. Very experimental score, very much that when you would be expecting blaring rock guitars in a chase, he surprises us with soft violins. Essentially, the mood is conveyed. The cinematography is sufficient and otherwise not much to pat on the technical side.

Kumararajan Thyagaraja..??..er sorry! Thiagarajan Kumararaja(thanks to Wiki)....Oh your the director right? It is your film?? Oh it is your first film?? That would be the array of questions If i got a chance to meet the Dir. Very impressive screen writing; and puts in emotions of various dimensions into the script. Comedy isn't forced, and no duets crap.

The biggest victory of the film is in etching the characters-not polarized to extreme goodness as a Rama nor to extreme evil as a Raavana, all have their lighter and darker sides, and that is what reality is all about. Though the film has its shares of flaws in the form of a slightly slow screenplay and the very fact that the film is experimental in every aspect, we can refresh ourselves for something new rather than re-tuning time and again to the paisa vasool formula.

Three stories, 24 hours and a Chennai we haven't seen...

A bizarre trailer, a debut director, award-winner of an international film festival, a battle with the censor board and a college dropout- these elements being attached to the film made me hope for nothing short of great. If a person believed so much in his craft, he was probably an anarchist who followed his own set of rules and that kind of a person obviously wouldn't be restricted by the boundaries of Tamil Cinema.

Aaranya Kaandam's director Thiagarajan Kumararaja uses his technical crew in all possible ways. Being the competent crew that they are, they comply. The film is so unconventional that despite the excellent work of the cinematographer (Vinod), editors (Praveen K L and N B Srikanth) and the music director (Yuvan Shankar Raja), none of their individual contributions stand out. It was teamwork and you praise the man who has directed them into completion. Thiagarajan has a clear-cut vision- the characters, their quirks, their looks and their distinct speech styles. Lacing terror with scornful humour, Aaranya Kaandam leaves its viewers with mixed emotions. The gang wars that are shot in stop-motion have classical music playing in the background giving them the poetic touch intended and bring out the beauty of the scenes, even though they're blood lusted. The low-key lighting and the dubious backdrop make Aaranya Kandam the morbid labyrinth it wants to be.

Full review- http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/6425/tamil/aaranya- kandam/3150/review.htm

Thiagarajan Kumararaja has given us a gangster movie which stands out with its realistic portrayal and no-nonsense treatment. Good performances, effective duologue's, slick editing and amazing camera- work help the movie stand out from the crowd. AK as film in its making and treatment is styled very similar to internationally known directors in this genre like Tarantino and Inarritu.

It is tough to believe that 'Aaranya Kaandam' is the debut effort of the director, who had earlier written the duologue's for another Chennai-based film 'Oram Po'. The finesse he displays in his writing and his directorial touches give ample evidence of his capabilities. 'Aaranya Kaandam' definitely marks the beginning of a new chapter in Tamil cinema.