Anniyan - is it an alien idea afterall?
Published by Mysorean on Saturday, July 30, 2005 at 12:52:00 pm.
Shankar, the director of films such as - “Kadhalan”, “Gentleman”, “Indian”, “Jeans”, “Mudhalvan” and “Boys” now comes up with “Anniyan”. Too much hype, huge budget, mind-blowing music, using the best special effects in Indian film industry, conveying significant social messages and vivek’s presence (off-late) are all key ingredients of any Shankar’s film. “Anniyan” is no different. But honestly, the movie could have done with better music! Shankar misses AR Rahman badly in this project. And it shows clearly.
Stars or no stars, Shankar knows what the audience wants. He gives it to them in a package that even certain hindi films cannot give. Once you come out of a Shankar movie, you will never have the feeling you have watched a tamil regional language movie. He always connects the movie to a significant social message with which you identify and that raises the standard in which you view the movie. Invariably that also raises the standards with which you review the movie. And Shankar has always come on tops here too. He raises the bar each time he makes a movie. And he satisfies it with his next venture.
“Anniyan” conveys the message of “Do your duty sincerely. Let the change in the country begin with you. Don’t put up with nonsense. Raise your voice and make it matter. We can make this country as good as a Singapore or a Japan if we (The Citizens) decide to do it” through three characters Ambi, Remo and Anniyan. Ambi is the one who follows the rules by the letter and spirit. But he cannot make others pay for the mistakes the make by not following the rules. Remo is a pop-singer/ ramp walker (confusing actually!) who does whatever’s necessary to win the love of his beloved. Anniyan is the one who makes every wrong-doer pay for his mistakes. These are the three alter egos of a small time lawyer by name “Ramanujam”. He is called Rules Ramanujam for easier identification. Yes! You got it right! This is another movie on Multiple Personality Disorder!
Vikram suffers from MPD and he goes about following rules, winning the love of his neighbour and making people pay for their mistakes in three different characters. Vikram defines each character carefully. He creates a clear distinction among them in terms of their voice, hairstyle, body language and style. Vikram has done so well in this movie that he can use this movie as a marketing tool for himself to other producers/ directors. Not that he needs it, but just goes to show that Vikram has completely shown the various range of acting styles he can handle with ease. He doesn’t look out of place at all. In order to stop myself from using superlatives for his performance I would like to pick up one Prakash Raj’s dialogue from the movie where he mistakes Vikram’s MPD as a case f good acting and says, “I have seen Sivaji, I have seen Gemini, Kamal and even Rajni. Even I am a good actor myself. But you have outdone all of them. You are simply great!” This is a tribute to Vikram’s performance inside the movie itself!
Vivek keeps the audience in splits whenever he’s on screen. It’s only natural that the tamil heroes (self acclaimed dalapathis and superstars) of today feel insecure sharing the frame with him. He can alone assure repeat value to a movie. “Run” is an excellent case in point. Sada is passable. Nassir comes in late as the psychiatrist and still manages to create an impact as only this veteran can do.
Music is good. Could have been better. AR Rahman is missed sorely in this department. The situations for the songs are just so wonderful that AR Rahman would have made one huge difference to the movie. If the movie ends up being a hit and not a super hit then I would attribute this to the absence of the Music Maestro from this team. The synergy is missing.
Cinematography by Mr. Ravi Verman and Mr. Manivannan is outstanding. The anniyan scenes are shot very well. Choreography was consistently horrible. None of the songs impressed in their execution & presentation. Painting a whole village, bridge, few cars, buses and Lorries were all a wasteful expenditure in my opinion. There are other better ways to create a positive visual impact. Extravagancies are never substitutes for good ideas. Shankar should learn from Mani Ratnam on how to extract the best visual effects from a situation.
Overall, a good movie. Have heard comments like it’s a rehash of all Shankar’s earlier movies. But then, he has a style. He follows it and to top it he makes it a point to show the style. Some people are rubbed the wrong way by this. Also, there is a certain section of people who just don’t get the crux of the movie come out making such comments. The intention of Shankar is there, but it’s not practical enough. All of us need to have an Anniyan growing inside us. If we keep ourselves blind to all the wrongs that are going on round us then, we will continue to live in a flawed world. Is it not our dream to see a perfect world? Is it such an alien idea? I don’t think so. Let me know what you think.
Stars or no stars, Shankar knows what the audience wants. He gives it to them in a package that even certain hindi films cannot give. Once you come out of a Shankar movie, you will never have the feeling you have watched a tamil regional language movie. He always connects the movie to a significant social message with which you identify and that raises the standard in which you view the movie. Invariably that also raises the standards with which you review the movie. And Shankar has always come on tops here too. He raises the bar each time he makes a movie. And he satisfies it with his next venture.
“Anniyan” conveys the message of “Do your duty sincerely. Let the change in the country begin with you. Don’t put up with nonsense. Raise your voice and make it matter. We can make this country as good as a Singapore or a Japan if we (The Citizens) decide to do it” through three characters Ambi, Remo and Anniyan. Ambi is the one who follows the rules by the letter and spirit. But he cannot make others pay for the mistakes the make by not following the rules. Remo is a pop-singer/ ramp walker (confusing actually!) who does whatever’s necessary to win the love of his beloved. Anniyan is the one who makes every wrong-doer pay for his mistakes. These are the three alter egos of a small time lawyer by name “Ramanujam”. He is called Rules Ramanujam for easier identification. Yes! You got it right! This is another movie on Multiple Personality Disorder!
Vikram suffers from MPD and he goes about following rules, winning the love of his neighbour and making people pay for their mistakes in three different characters. Vikram defines each character carefully. He creates a clear distinction among them in terms of their voice, hairstyle, body language and style. Vikram has done so well in this movie that he can use this movie as a marketing tool for himself to other producers/ directors. Not that he needs it, but just goes to show that Vikram has completely shown the various range of acting styles he can handle with ease. He doesn’t look out of place at all. In order to stop myself from using superlatives for his performance I would like to pick up one Prakash Raj’s dialogue from the movie where he mistakes Vikram’s MPD as a case f good acting and says, “I have seen Sivaji, I have seen Gemini, Kamal and even Rajni. Even I am a good actor myself. But you have outdone all of them. You are simply great!” This is a tribute to Vikram’s performance inside the movie itself!
Vivek keeps the audience in splits whenever he’s on screen. It’s only natural that the tamil heroes (self acclaimed dalapathis and superstars) of today feel insecure sharing the frame with him. He can alone assure repeat value to a movie. “Run” is an excellent case in point. Sada is passable. Nassir comes in late as the psychiatrist and still manages to create an impact as only this veteran can do.
Music is good. Could have been better. AR Rahman is missed sorely in this department. The situations for the songs are just so wonderful that AR Rahman would have made one huge difference to the movie. If the movie ends up being a hit and not a super hit then I would attribute this to the absence of the Music Maestro from this team. The synergy is missing.
Cinematography by Mr. Ravi Verman and Mr. Manivannan is outstanding. The anniyan scenes are shot very well. Choreography was consistently horrible. None of the songs impressed in their execution & presentation. Painting a whole village, bridge, few cars, buses and Lorries were all a wasteful expenditure in my opinion. There are other better ways to create a positive visual impact. Extravagancies are never substitutes for good ideas. Shankar should learn from Mani Ratnam on how to extract the best visual effects from a situation.
Overall, a good movie. Have heard comments like it’s a rehash of all Shankar’s earlier movies. But then, he has a style. He follows it and to top it he makes it a point to show the style. Some people are rubbed the wrong way by this. Also, there is a certain section of people who just don’t get the crux of the movie come out making such comments. The intention of Shankar is there, but it’s not practical enough. All of us need to have an Anniyan growing inside us. If we keep ourselves blind to all the wrongs that are going on round us then, we will continue to live in a flawed world. Is it not our dream to see a perfect world? Is it such an alien idea? I don’t think so. Let me know what you think.
