Varanam Ayiram - In My Opinion

A much touted Tamil movie, which is supposed to be the magnum opus creation of Goutham Menon, failed to live up to its expectations by few points. Let us start with the bouquets first and deal with the brickbats later. The movie is a sure treat for Surya’s fans. Goutham Menon should be appreciated for bringing the innate acting skills that were still (wow!) dormant in the actor to the fore. Surya has exceeded well beyond the previous standards set by none other than himself (in movies, such as Pitha Magan, Gajini, Kakka Kakka, and Peralagan for the uninitiated). The actor's hard work and dedication is apparent in almost every frame. Surya has stolen the whole show without any doubt. The next person who deserves accolades is the music director, Harris Jeyaraj for his brilliant composition. His music is a tower of strength to this movie. The visualization and Tamarai’s lyrics make the songs much more special. But much to our disappointment, some of the songs remind us of Harris's old flicks. This movie also marks the introduction of Sameera Reddy in kollywood. Sameera is a divinity in motion. She looks gorgeous and stylish. She also plays her part well.But she looks older than Surya in most of the frames, disappointingly. Anyhow, out of the three heroines, Sameera leads the pack.

Now it's time to deal with the brickbats. Gautham Menon has dedicated this movie (as a tribute) to his father. He also confessed in one of his interviews that he made some changes in the script (which was initially a love story) to emphasize more on the father-son relationship. Here comes the problem. The director has tried to fit two seemingly intense subjects in a three hour movie. He could have focused more on either the love part or the father –son relationship part. For instance, the movie Autograph deals only with the love of the hero in his various phases of life without digressing from the subject. But in this movie, the scope of the subject is not properly defined. Consequently, we cannot bring the story of the movie into a bracket, say “a father-son relationship story”, “a love story”, “the life cycle of a man”. It is all the three. Furthermore, the kidnap scenes were strikingly redundant (guess the director has made it short now).So, the long-winded script forms the major flip side of the movie. Similarly, though the father-son relationship has come out well, it is a rehash of what we saw in movies like, Thavamai Thavamirunthu. Likewise, the ordeal that Surya goes through after Samira’s death, the concept of reminiscence and unfolding different stages in the life of a hero, etc reminds us of Autograph. Similarly, Surya-Sameera’s love was not communicated very effectively to us. It starts as a love at first site, and then the heroine denies hero’s love, travels to US, and accepts his love suddenly and at last she dies. So Surya’s ordeal after Sameera’s death is not justified. In the same way, Simran and Divya Spandana look like props in the movie. In particular, Simran’s make up in the 80’s period is atrocious. I am sure this pretty actress could have looked better had the make up department taken more care. Now coming to Divya. Actually, there is nothing much to talk about her. She doesn't have much scope to act in this film.So, lets hope she gets better roles in the future.

Apart from all these, many more questions can be raised. Where did Divya go when the father Surya was in the death bed? They all stay in the same house. Isn’t it? But she appears only after the flash back. May be the director wanted to keep Surya-Divya’s marriage initially under wraps to maintain the curiosity among the audience. But he could have justified her absence in the first few scenes by giving some reasons.As a parting note, I would say Goutham Menon has shared some of the memories of his father through this film. His diary, though had a few interesting sections, on the whole, failed to provide an interesting read.