Biased with a lot of negative reviews, I started watching this film "Aaranya Kaandam" online, purely out of curiosity. And to be honest, the film stunned me out. I have never imagined a director who could bring such underworld happenings to limelight without compromising on story. Most of such stories are seen in only in Hollywood or Bollywood [Courtesy RGV], and its good to see such original script in Tamil.
So, here goes my postmortem of the film.
Abstract - A day in the life of a gangster. Sampath working under Jackie Sheroff tries to double-cross a drug dealing belonging to other gang. Due to other incidents the drug gets into the hands of innocent kid and his father who tries to negotiate with the gangster for a mere peanut amount. After lot of other twists, turns and gang-wars the film ends with a unexpected climax. Ok, I know you couldn't get the story with whatever I scribbled in the last few lines, but believe this is how the story goes. Completely unexpected and full of twists. Watch it to enjoy.
Plus
1. Unexpected and perfectly crafted story play
2. Sampath - He carries the film on his shoulders
3. Jackie - One more "nayagan" after Kamal. Perfect actor. Initial scene where he beats his partner for his impotence - no one can doubt whether he acts or caught with candid camera
4. Ravi Krishna - Definitely better than 7G. Matured acting
5. Cast and Crew - Every single character is justified. The guy who literates audience on how to correct aunties, [I believe he is from chennai-28 crew?] is perfectly portrayed. Leave apart the Rajini-Kamal controversy in the dialogue. He has done a perfect job.
6. Kodukkapuli and this father - Though this kid is one among other character, he stands apart in this film. We can watch the film for this kid alone. His dialogue delivery and action are Class-A. His expression of anger, fun, intelligence, innocence, disability.. damn-good.
7. Dialogue - Razor sharp. If its one or two dialogues that Iam impressed, I could quote them here as examples. But every dialogue is worth a watch. Few dialogues delivered visually are amazing, like Jackie doubting Ravikrishna just by his massage style itself. Most of the dialogues delivered by Kodukkapuli to his father/Sampath is excellent. I again say, its worth watching the complete film for this kid alone. Natural and matured acting from the first scene. Though many comments said there are lot of unparliamentary words, I never felt like that. Its obvious that one should not expect pure tamil in gangster movies like this. But, its definitely not over dosed.
8. Screenplay - I started watching this movie with one thing in mind "If the movie goes with the reviews I read in the first 15mins, I will better sleep". But 115 mins, I couldnt stop watching despite my Internet usage running out of quota :).
9. Camera work - I dont know much about this, and i obviously watched a degraded version of this movie online. But high quality stills online proves it should definitely be great. Cock-fight should be a feast to watch.
10. Music - Yuvan has done a great job. He keeps the movie flying and knots us to the edge of the seat. BGM like 7G. Few places where it was full of violence, the BGM played really soothened the scenes. Just experience it. And I dont remember any songs in this movie.
11. Story - Excellently crafted mix of 3 different stories in this movie
a) Sampath trying to double cross - Complete gangster story line
b) RaviKrishna's affair with Jackie Sherrofs lady [Yasmeen]
c) Story of Kodukkapuli and his father who was once Jameen, and lost all his wealth now due to his bad habits
12. Intelligence - Who said gansters are fools. Movie full of interesting twists. Just a sample is how Sampath escapes from a grid-lock,and how the other guys responds with "Kasthuriya naanga paathukkarom" reply. Nice touch.
Enough of Pro's now Con's
May be Iam really pissed-off after watching Avan Ivan, and hence couldnt find any big negatives in this film. But still,
1. Could have reduced the Sampath's running scene, chased by opposite gangsters. Though the scene is vital, some more editing could have been done
2. BGM at times was not racy. Yuvan has tried a mexican type of music for one of the chasing scenes. Though its a bit new to see such visuals, it reduces the intensity of the scene.
Good-thing
1. Such stories coming in tamil
2. Charan's effort to release despite such negative spread
Bad-thing
1. Our cine guys spreading such very negative views. One of the review read, "Does charan need to release this movie after 52 cuts". When censor can allow Vijayakanth spinning a top around Sukanya's navel, therez nothing wrong in movies like this. A movie of this creed cannot be less intense. Long back i remember a movie "en uyir thozhan" or something directed by Bharathiraja that portrays the life of rickshaw folks in a slum. I still remember few raw words used in that film. No rowdi will speak "hello madam, i want to kill you pls..."
2. In Jaya TV review, Suhashini was questioning on "What message this film gives to audience". My answer to her will be
a) Cinema is just an entertainment medium and not a school/library for audience to get message. If you need message, go to Sathsang/Mass.
b) What message did her husband's film "Raavan" carry. Dont trust your wife (or) use your wife as bait?
Vulgar
1. Few inparliamentary words/scenes are there in the film, but most of them are censored/beeped. Other escaped words, doesnt make big impact and they are needed to carry the film.
2. A scene where Jackie appears nude [scrambled] - I dont think this scene created embarassment like GK did in Avan Ivan. This scene, though could have been avoided, aptly did fit into the movie.
Overall
Since censor board has scissored all the worst part of this movie, whats being released doesnt create that much negative impact when watching. Though not a family entertainer, anyone who wants to watch a action-packed thriller plus a racy gangster entertainer can definitely watch this one. After parthiban's award-winning "Housefull" this is the second movie I felt that went crisp and racy. Even "Saroja" was kind of this movie, but that had lot of family entertainer stuff and out of logic scenes. This movie did have some out of logic scenes, but not worth considering. One big mistake was not even a single police was shown as if the complete department was transferred out of Tamil Nadu. But remember that the full story happens within a day and we cannot expect police to react soon. Enough of writing, now its time for you guys to watch the film and update the comments with your views.
Rating - 3.5/5
1. What is the limit for "desire"? 
