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"It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Match'd with an agèd wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me."

Friday, June 17, 2005

Review: ANNIYAN

There is an old anecdote (possibly even apocryphal) about how a woman proposed to George Bernard Shaw telling him that if they married, their progeny would be blessed with her beauty and his brains. The inimitable GBS is known to have shot back, "But what if he inherits my uncomely countenance and your stupid intellect?"

Who doesn't want all the wealth of Bill Gates, the genius of Albert Einstein and the come-get-me looks of Tom Cruise (or Pitt or Depp)? Yes, all of it! You know you won't refuse it. But what if you can't refuse it? What if you don't have the power to refuse it? If it is beyond your control?

There is a theory that if a person has too much pent-up emotions courtesy of incidents, accidents, even tragedies he has faced in his life, his mind can conjure up a totally different personality - an all-conquering ideal, through which the person releases those emotions, sometimes even in violent ways. That is the basis of a split personality. Or so opines director Shankar. And that opinion forms the storyline of the most eagerly awaited Tamil film of 2005 - Anniyan (the stranger).

The theme is not new. A man whose docile nature sheaths his anger at society, its corrupt and devious elements is a recurrent theme in Shankar's movies like Gentleman and Indian which were roaring successes both with the critics and at the BO. However, unlike Krishnamurthy or Senapathi, Ramanujam Iyengar is not Dr. Jekyll by day and Mr. Hyde by night. He is Doctor er... Lawyer Jekyll all the while. A righteous person, he cannot tolerate those who break or bend rules. But "Rules" Ramanujam is a typical Brahmin, he can complain endlessly, but he cannot act against an erring society. He comes across a website which accepts his grievances and promises to punish sinners.

Lo and behold, Anniyan barges on to the scene. Unknown to the world, unknown to Ramanujam, this omnipotent stranger guillotines the guilty, leaving behind only a jumble of letters. Who is he? Why does he look like Ramanujam? And who's Remo, the ramp-walk model? These are some of the many questions raised in an otherwise boring first half. The riveting second half provides not only the answers but is the saving grace too.

A movie of three hours cannot be without downsides. As already stated, the theme is not new. The storyline seems like a collage of a dozen movies - Indian, Gentleman, Ramana, A Beautiful Mind, The Matrix, Spiderman, Aalavandhaan, For the People (Four Students), Mudhalvan, even Chandramukhi! But Shankar's inevitable touch, technical wizardry and taut screenplay make this breakneck-speed movie very enjoyable . But hey, isn't it unpardonable that a director of Shankar's class should also stoop down to Matrix- and Spidey-style stunts?

For once, a leading lady has some part to play, beyond the usual dance sequences. Sadha grabs her role with both hands and has perfomed well enough for us to remark that she is not saadha. Prakash Raj is his usual self, adding another feather to his already heavy cap. After a long time, Vivek also shines in a role sans dialogues with sexual undertones.

If you thought the soundtrack was great, check them out on screen. Each song has been shot with such taste and to such perfection that the producers could have released music videos separately. Kannum Kannum Nokia is the pick of the music videos! You can miss the initial titles sequence, and still guess that the dialogues have been penned by Sujatha. Savour this... in one scene, Ramanujam is beaten black and blue by some rogues. After some time, in comes Anniyan. One of the rogues asks, "Avana ivan?" Anniyan replies, "Avan illada, Yaman da!"

A couple of days ago, someone raised a question if Anniyan would be Shankar's magnum opus. My answer is NO! But it is certainly Vikram's magnum opus. Yet again, Vikram has proved that he can deliver to the weight of expectations. Though his mannerisms as a typical (?) Tam-Brahm seem like an aping of Poornam Viswanathan, his portrayal of three different roles with such elan is stupefying. His role in the climax where he shifts from Anniyan to Ramanujan to Anniyan to Rama... is a treat. In such cases, there is only a thin line that separates perfection and over-acting. For having tread that line with care, Vikram deserves to be honoured.

Is Anniyan good? Yes! Is it a great movie? Probably. Is it unforgettable? Well, only Oscar Ravichandran, the producer who has splashed 25+ crores, can answer!

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very good balanced review. Makes me want to get out and watch it. Thanks for not putting in too many spoilers.

6/18/2005 02:48:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

6/18/2005 06:24:00 PM  
Blogger Boston Bala said...

One of the better reviews I read in the blogs.

6/19/2005 09:01:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Easily the most sensible review I've come across so far - the best thing is you've not taken sides unlike many others. If Vikram's acting is half as good as what you say, I have a feeling I'm gonna love it.

6/20/2005 10:38:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My views on Anniyan are well chronicled as we both know but it was refreshing to read another perspective though one thing I still cannot digest is that Nokia song :-) and it felt worse to read Ravivarman's interview in rediff trying to outline the pains he took to film THAT number...Baah...

As far as explaining MPD goes, judging by the audience reaction, there seems to be a very fine line that separates 'the mindless nevertheless entertaining' attempt in Chandramukhi and the 'serious but desperately trying to be commercial too' attempt in Anniyan...and from the looks of it, the former seemed to have scored which for me was very ironic...After all, makkal theerpu is mahesan's theerpu...

and hey, I had two sleepless nights trying to figure out who Ambi sounded so much like...Poornam Vishwanathan.. Bang on.. I owe u one...

Neway very interesting blog...Will drop by more often...Keep penning.

6/21/2005 11:01:00 PM  
Blogger Vijay Krishna Narayanan said...

Thanks Jupe, I must confess your review made me revisit mine own... however, conflicting views are what makes blogosphere interesting. I am praying that the producer recovers at least the money he's put in!

Thanks yet again for dropping by.

6/22/2005 12:18:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pardon me for being finicky but I love leaving this remark behind whenever ppl say 'Thanks for dropping by'.

Dude, I am not doing u a favor by visiting your blog...U write well so I am here otherwise I would not be bothered :-p So if u still insist on thanking me, I'd prefer u do that by writing more often...

ps: 'nandri' - thamizh agaraadhila enakku pidikaadha vaarthai a la Captain ;-)

pps: When Pete was in his peak, u knew everytime he set foot on court what the result of the match would be....That is one form of genius....but so boring...I prefer the enigmatic types...the Kordas, Ivanisevics and the Safins...On their day they can beat the Federers 2,2,1 but on their off days, they can lose to me by the same margin...

6/22/2005 01:15:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anniyan is nothing but a tamil masala created from the idea of

X-files The name of the part was "chimera" made in the year 2000 it's episode 16 of season 7

Anyway a good review...

5/23/2006 04:59:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is the first time I have seen a Tamil movie...a friend recommended it. I don't know if this is just me... but isn't this movie, like a bad take-off of a Sidney Sheldon novel.."Tell me your dreams"....
Three personalities...the strong british one, Toni...the beautiful Italian one..Alette and the host docile, elegant American... Ashley. Even the ending was a total lift off the book. The only difference in plot being... childhood abuse brought out the personalities.
Somehow the charcters were just not rounded enough...so nope! wasn't impressed...I guess if you have read the book you would not be impressed with the script or character development. Good actor though..Vikram...the last scene of splitting between the characters was good without being overdone.But will check out other movies though.

6/15/2006 01:50:00 PM  

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