"Andha Naal" is a Tamil film noir directed by Veenai S. Balachander starring Sivaji Ganesan, Pandari Bai and 'Javert' Seetharaman. It is inspired from the famous Japanese film "Rashomon" which is a film about an incident told from multiple contradicting perspectives but unlike Rashomon, the true incident is shown to us in the climax.
"Andha Naal" is about the investigation of the murder of Rajan (Sivaji Ganesan) where each suspect provides contradicting clues that points someone else as the suspect. 'Javert' Seetharaman plays the intelligent CID officer Sivanandam who does the investigation with this friend police officer. He is also the narrator and screenplay-writer for the film. His screenplay is so intelligent and believable that there is absolutely no plot hole. Sivanandam compares the suspects and the incident to the "Blind Men and the Elephant" story. He finally finds out the culprit using various clues (which you yourself might've noticed towards the end) but mostly thanks to a famous Tamil proverb that instigated an idea in his mind. (I won't spoil that!)
This film as any film noir uses shadows extensively to convey mood and personality of characters. There is also many innovative uses of cinematography like one scene showing Sivaji through a key tray and another scene showing Pandari Bai through a spinning chair's armrest. Sivaji, Pandari Bai and Seetharaman's acting were amazing and believable whereas the brother and brother's wife character did disappointingly overacting but it's forgivable for an old film.
Overall I gave it a 10/10. This film sustains interest even today and makes you realize that if a film has a good script, then you don't need any dance, fight or songs to enjoy it. It's a shame Tamil Cinema turned into a crappy crowd-pleasing 'Mass' movies producing industry. (At the time of writing this review, Alex Pandian is in theaters (facepalm)!)
