User reviews

My experiences with Bollywood movies are quite good. Although I only watched the ones that had a higher rating. So it's normal that they are good.

This movie is somewhat different from the other movies I've watched. Those were more comedy's. This movie also his a comedy side. But it's much more than that. It's much more complex than a comedy. The other personality's from Ambi are very interesting. Anniyan and Remo. Anniyan is his dark side and Remo his romantic side. I won't tell you any more. Because if you like to see something different from India watch this.

Good luck with finding it! I'm lucky I had the opportunity to watch this movie.

If you do not know Tamil (just like I don't) then watch the DVD version of ANNIYAN with subtitles (not the Hindi version). You will be proud to find that the best movies in the world are Indian movies (I will learn Tamil just to watch its movies). Roles were challenging but acting/performance was great too. Direction qualifies for a new degree after good better and best. Comedy has good timing and morals delivered are clear. I have been humming the songs specially - Iyengar Vittu Adege with out really knowing what the lyrics means. Actions were well shown and well place in the movie. The scenes were so well placed. Music was super. This is a art, classic, action, science, romance, thriller, drama. A movie does not get better than this.

Shankar and Vikram have done a fantastic job. Director Shankar is turning into a professional high-quality perfectionist. Actor Vikram, charged with a National award for Best Actor (2004) is on a roll. His performance is classy and comparable to many great actors of Tamil cinema.

Anniyan is definitely worth watching at least once. Forget about the critics who list past movies from which various aspects of Anniyan (like concept, theme, stunts, music) was inspired (or copied). It is easier to make the original than to make a copy as the original serves as a hard benchmark. It is hard to replicate something while maintaining audience interest. Shankar does this job to a more-than-satisfying extent.

Besides, when great directors like Steven Spielberg copy past movies (War of the worlds) with the confidence of providing the viewers something worthwhile to watch, I don't see anything wrong in Shankar's Anniyan. Yet, Anniyan is NOT a complete copy and it is definitely MORE than the sum of its parts.

Anniyan has stunts that were never before seen in any Tamil movie. Shankar has provided the opportunity to the (uneducated mass of) Tamil audience of watching world-class stunts in a movie that they can understand (as against most Hollywood flicks that have the action but make no sense to them). So what, if it has been copied? Matrix Reloaded being largely mystifying and unexplained, even to most native-English speakers, could not justify to the (masses of the) Tamil audience as to why all the action exists!!??. But that is not the case with Anniyan.

To sum it all up, Anniyan is what a movie should really be. A classy entertainer. Good songs, great cinematography, wonderful (although sometimes unbelievable) stunts, great acting performance, nice comedy and classic direction. Watch the movie without prejudice and be entertained.

This is a film that should, sorry will, change the face of Tamil cinema forever. It is amazing, amusing and astounding to watch and her and anyone who says different may need to watch the film again properly and look at the hard work, groundbreaking(for Tamil cinema)visuals, and fantastic songs that is in this film. It is watchable enough for VIKRAM'S performance alone, but Vivek's hilarious comedy and one-liners, Harris Jeyraj's great songs and amazing sets and location make this film a must-see for all Tamil cinema lovers. The highlight of the film is the last 23 minutes, these minutes alone should entice even a cinema goer not a fan of VIKRAM or Shankar to go and see the film at least once more. On the whole ANNIYAN is three words Amazing, Breathtaking and VIKRAM.

This movie has progressed Indian Cinema by leaps and bounds.The truth is I was pretty skeptical when I went to the theater.I was just tagging along with my friends.But to much of my AMAZEMENT is was extremely good.Vikram acting was superb, as he portrays three very different personalities naturally.Sadha on the other hand acted very well.The whole cast especially viveks jokes keeps you entertained the entire movie.The movie is so well balanced that it doesn't leave the audience a sense of morbidness during the murder parts of the movie.Its usual for all tamil movies to have supernatural element for the fight scenes.Director Shankar cleverly shot anniyan movie fight scenes to the next level with 360 degree angle matrix style fight scenes.Now thats a mammoth leap and a first for a TAMIL MOVIE!!Needless to say Harish Jayraj did a very good job with the music with a nice blend of different music genres.The song settings were very artistic.The computer graphics for the movie is the best yet for a tamil movie.A very professional Hollywood style movie with the Indian touch.A very enjoying movie.DO not read the reviews, see the movie and judge it yourself.

Just one note when watching Anniyan: it's very different than the average stereotype tamil movie so KEEP AN OPEN MIND WHEN WATCHING IT!!!

Extrodinay Viewing experience. very good movie Vikram's acting excellent Must watch on a theatre!!! Advise don't watch on VCD, will spoil the effect. Bit slow in the first half and some times make the viewer think a bit. Prakashraj's mufti useless and Vivek's comedy good and enjoyable Shankar's direction good. song scenes are good but not in line with the story, seems to be created for masala lovers. Should have given more stress to the art part of the movie. Not suitable for any international nominations as some of the scenes are not very logical. good story line much much better than chandramukhi all in all a very good movie

Anniyan the big movie of this year is definitely a worth for money.This time "shankar" did a excellent job."Vikram as ambi , remo & anniyan " three characters in which ambi dominates the all.Multiple personality disorder which was the movies base is new to Indian film industry.All credit goes to "vikram" ,he did a noteworthy performance."Satha" as "nandhini" did a fare job."Vivek & Prakashraj" do did a commendable job.Music by "harris jayaraj" is always a pleasant for ears.This time carnatic based songs Ayyangaru veetu azhage in which "hariharan & harini" mesmerize the people by their voice.Shankars message is Indians need more self discipline in to make India a super power.Must see film for all audience. Don't Miss it.

One of the biggest flaws in this movie concerns the same thing that Shankar actually got right during Boys. In Boys, 99% of the characters were new entrants and unknowns and were thus were very realistic and highly effective in their roles. However, in Anniyan, every villain, every common bad guy and every misc character were played by big leaguers who would have been familiar for the zillionth time. A coupla comedians play bad guys and are extremely ineffective in that role and difficult to take seriously. Thus the elements of shock normally present in a Shankar flick do not exist in Anniyan. The second biggest flaw is the overuse of really bad CGI, cheap gimmickry and too many references to the internet. Third, too many movies have been copied and the remakes of the scenes look utterly stupid. This movie has obviously been formulated and engineered to rake in money at the box office without actually offering anything amazing or worthy.

What a terrible disappointment this movie was. Shankar was pathetic in trying to churn out a mediocre entertainer to fill his pocket rather than go with the type of new and graphically controvertial ideas that come into mind which make his movies so exclusive. Heres where Anniyan fails,

Plot - Essentially a repeat of Indian and Mudhalvan and not as good as either by far. This time around, the people get blamed for their behavior in society. When you think about it, it did a little bit of potential and the movie could have been a bit more violent and used some better ideas devoid of clichés. All the familiar stories show up.

Acting - The worst ever. The bad deeds done by society are all unconvincing, look intentional for the camera and are done by too many familiar actors who you simply can't picture playing such roles. Vikram's acting is highly overrated and utterly stupid as that Remo character. In all of Shankar's movies, the acting was super realistic to the extent that it shocked you. Not here. It was lame. Prakash Raj just plays himself and is an unconvincing police officer.

Action - Horrid, comical style fight scenes with a 3rd rate repeat of matrix and kill bill fight scenes with 1/50th the budget. The stunt and camera guys really ripped Shankar off.

Comedy - Very good. Vivek keeps the movie going. Some other characters also deliver good comedy.

Songs - No AR Rehman. Nuff said.

Special effects - Why do stupid 3D Graphics and CGI done by the worst ever teams keep showing up? They have no point whatsoever. They are embarrassing. Did Shankar really think that the audience was dumb enough to buy that Anniyan 3D animated an entire world using only Macromedia Flash?

If you look at Boys, you can see that Shankar really wanted to make his movies as graphic and realistic as possible. This movie is neither. It tries to be and look violent but poor screenplay and poor cinematography ruin it. Anniyan is more of kids flick than a shocking Shankar thriller.

Yeah it's an excellent movie.Shankar always do a great job.He is ,without no doubt the spiel berg of India. Vikram's best film of all time. one of the best films ever made in world cinema. Complete entertainer. if it was made in Hollywood it would have rcvd at least 4 Oscars 1.best actor 2.best action 3.best direction 4.best screen play

all directors must see this movie to study about how to direct a good entertainer.no flaws at all.3 hours of pure entertainment. the only drawback of this films is the actress i didn't like her. i love shankar movie.none of his films has failed in box office to say clearly they were very huge hits.

anniyan...the story that reminds me of my own frustrations; a masterpiece to the core reflecting the need for Indian public to think ( at least ) of their basic responsibilities as citizens; not anticipating any major change in their behaviors though. a must watch for every Indian., and in my opinion it rightly deserves the national award for both movie & it's hero. have seen the movie 6 times till now... shankar sir is really great and vikram...too good to be loved by one and all for his histrionics.i always wondered what if god is physically present among us punishing the wrong-doers..the subject of the movie falls in this line..in all of us, if we closely observe, there's an intrinsic desire to be like someone or be someone at different points in our day-to-day life...the protagonist arises from one of this inner manifestations of the base character which is obviously meek like scores of us..you can't expect a subject like this hitting the Indian screens, thanks for the director for taking up a bold risk who has delivered a punch of entertainment along with his greatest asset..that is story-telling.in this movie you will find yourself, the hell, and even the road to heaven too;

Shankar is my favorite film maker. His movies have speed, tightly woven script. His movies are frame by frame perfect. He hits at corrupt system hard with varying backdrops.

This one too hits at system. But the treatment is diff from all his other movies. Acting is extremely good. Sharp camera work which is the trademark of Shankar is terrific in this movie too.

I am not in the habit of disclosing story in my reviews. So I would say that story is very different and is not quite common. Movie has some very light resemblance to his own old creation Hindustani(Kamal Hasan) where he uses some old Indian traditional art to tackle corruption. In this movie too he uses some thing which is part of very old Indian culture.

Movie has suspense which keeps audience at the edge of their seats.

Thank you Shankar for these movies. May god give you unlimited energy and age and you keep making terrific movies. Eagerly waiting for Amitabh, Rajnikanth and Kamal Hasan in single movie together.

I had watched this movie during engineering and now I'm watching this movie again after 14 years and still I feel excited.Shankar and Vikram are gems of a person and with their deadly combination they have achieved excellency ,Harris Jayaraj music was cherry on top .👍

My favourite movie since school days I watched it on TV. The hindi version name is Aparichit of this movie.

The movie was excellent. Songs and BGM were also good in the movie. This is one of the Best Movie of Vikram and Shankar. Vikram acting was superb in the movie.

If you enjoy watching Indian movies, you'll enjoy this movie a lot. Many people who commented negatively about the film, probably thinks Indian movies are crap. If you enjoy Indian comedy, dances, songs, and drama, this is a great movie.

It has a superb performance by Vikram. I would watch this film for his performance alone. The heroine Sadha does adequately and looks good. The music is good, although not up to what AR Rahman and Shankar could do. The visuals are excellent. The fights are really the best ever scene in Indian films, although they are kind of taken from Hollywood films. The comedy in the first half is really enjoyable.

I suggest you watch this film as a fantasy film and don't expect any reality from it. Its a blockbuster that should not be missed.

this is a great movie.shankar has a great vision.he shows that when we die,all the sins that we do will be judge be yamadharma.for an example,when we harm creatures and animals,always kill them,when they die,they will be sent to an hell called andhakupa where they will be kept in a place full of animals and torture them.shankar is asking u to do good and not the bad.i really love watching this movie and i give this movie a rating of 10.i hope that this movie would be a biggest blockbuster.shankar did a great job and spent a lot of movie.although,the fighting seen was like matrix,at least he try to do tamil movie as so.can u do just like that?why is that tamil people like this.why is that some don't like anniyan?my is that they don't like if Indian people produce a movie like matrix.if anniyan come out in English and the actor was tom cruise or other popular actor,indians will surely like it.you must be proud that an Indian put an efforts on doing a super movie almost like an English movie.i really want to praise shankar.

No one ever expects much logic from Shankar. But high-octane paisa-vasool entertainment is something he has always delivered with his anti-corruption or social cleansing stories. Be it his debut Gentleman, Indian, Mudhalvan, Shankar consistently maintained his knack for fast paced, sleek, and epic-scaled storytelling, albeit sans logic. With Anniyan he disappoints big time. The film is illogical, inconsistent, over the top. At no point in the 3 hours does the narrative ever grip you. Oh for crying out loud, hire an experienced screenwriter next time. Don't waste money like this! And please spare us the cheap SFX gimmickry!

I can't believe I'm writing a review for a movie this bad. I know better than to expect good movies from the Tamil film industry these days, but this one came as a shocker nevertheless. I don't remember the last half-decent movie I saw that came from home - probably Autograph. It's a shame: the same industry that produced Kadhalikka Neramillai, Nayagan, Mouna Ragam...but I digress.

What hurts me most is hypocrisy in such *message* movies. I will eat the humble pie if anything changes in India after Shankar makes a million of these movies a million times over. Anniyan was just a fool-proof formula masquerading as a film that had a social message. Try telling someone else that Shankar cares about anything except for the commercial success of his movies.

And for heaven's sake, why can't we be original? There's one very interesting forum topic here that's discussing the number of English movies this was a rip-off from. I'm sure the quiz-masters are getting their notepads ready for a mega question: play a couple of scenes and then ask the contestants to name all the original movies that 'inspired' those scenes.

Don't even let me get started on the song lyrics... Now that I've berated it enough, let me explain why I gave it the three stars that I did. Song visualisations. Vivek's comedy (a *big* saving grace - 2 stars).

I'm not going to ask you not to watch it. You are either going to think I'm stupid, or that I watch only Bergman, Fellini, Renoir and Eisenstein to be saying such ridiculous things. So, go ahead by all means. And God bless our country if such movies are going to change it.