Aaru

Before we go into this movie let us have a look at director Hari’s career. He created a blockbuster in “Samy”, mediocre ventures in “Tamil”, “kovil” and “Ayya” and eventually a blunder in “Arul”. So what class does Aaru fall into? One might expect that with Surya’s star presence, he might have scored a perfect sixer with Aaru. But sorry guys the bitter truth is that the duo have been bowled out for a duck. Surya after a scintillating performance as the suave business tycoon as well as the disciplined short term memory loss patient in “ghajini” steps into the shoes of a local rowdy in Aaru and I find the transition quite unsuitable for a romantic hero like him. Presently he is at the peak of his career donning many versatile roles. As a rule in Tamil cinema stars often prefer to don a rogue’s character when they taste the fruits of success. Rajini did it, Vijay did it, Vikram’s rough and tough “Sethu” sparked off his career, and Simbu after “Manmadhan” success played a rowdy in “Thoti jaya”. And does surya fare well? It is a dimension he has never entered before (Nanda an exception) and I would brand this as his first out and out commercial action flick. The story, as you might have guessed, is about a local rowdy Aaru (surya) brought up in the den of a bigger don (Ashis Vidyarti), mainly by his maternal sister (Malavika). Aaru has all the love and affection for Ashis but the latter regards him in the standards of a servant and decides to get him killed in some circumstances. Aaru learns this somehow and then starts a tit for tat game of revenge. Trisha is mainly a supplement to the movie (as is the case in most of her films) just for the romance scenes and showing off her hip. But I really appreciate her running capabilities in the song and police chase sequences. She can be our next PT Usha. Ishwarya, Kalabavan Mani and Ashi’s brothers (whoever the heck they are) are shouting at the top of their lungs throughout the movie. Think they swallowed a couple of loudspeakers before their takes. Vadivel’s comedy doesn’t send the funny bone tickling and you feel that he is going over the same stuff again and again. This is what happens if you don’t have a control over the number of movies you are acting in.
So it is naturally Surya who takes the cake. He manages to speak the slum dialect efficiently though quite fast. But he enacts the soft and romantic scenes with more ease and skill. He is certainly one actor to watch for but as a big admirer of this guy I feel he need not have done this movie. Of course he did a similar character in nanda but it wasn’t as loud as our aaru here. In kakha kakha too he played a cop who is calm and composed. So it would be better to spot Surya when the backdrop is serene and placid.
Devi Sri Prasad’s music doesn’t set your foot tapping. Only the “Paarkada” song is honey to the ears. Language is very strong and it has become a salient feature of a Hari movie. Violence is also too thick. What’s the use of having gore violence with no other element to back it up Hari????????????????