Yennai Arindhaal – Preview
Dec 2012. Gautham Menon’s Neethane En Ponvasantham hit screens. No one loved the film as much as film critic Baradwaj Rangan did. But, the audiences and a majority of critics were not contented with the film. And some trashed it. Some ended up giving half-hearted responses which was also what the film received at the box-office. Gautham was at the receiving end since then. A financial tussle between Gautham Menon and his friend Elred Kumar of RS Infotainment followed. Gautham landed in unforeseen situations where major actors went apprehensive to sign his next. Example: Suriya, who was supposed to start Dhruva Natchathiram with Gautham Menon, backed out of the project citing some ineffective reasons. Gautham decided to join hands with Simbu again and announced his next film as Sattendru Maaruthu Vaanilai in the latter half of 2013 and started shooting. It was then Ajith called on Gautham Menon to write a script for him. Ajith turned Gautham’s saviour to revive his sagging career, one of his widely known qualities.Then, Gautham put Simbu’s project on hold to direct Thala immediately. Not sure if you or I would approve it. But Simbu, a self-confessed and vocal fan of Ajith Kumar, made no qualms about it and let Gautham complete Ajith’s film first.
“Ajith was earlier supposed to play the lead role in Kaakha Kaakha, but Suriya eventually played. We missed to team up in many occasions earlier,” said Gautham Menon.
“Give me a film like Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu,” is what Ajith told according to an interview of Gautham Menon.
From being Thala 55 to becoming Yennai Arindhaal, the film has come a long way to hit cinemas tomorrow worldwide.
Gautham Menon has proved his mettle as a candid film-maker who tells stories from the heart; Vaaranam Ayiram stands testimony to the same. He is hailed as a master story-teller when it comes to romance – Minnale, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaaya, Neethane En Ponvasanatham. And, he’s a proven hand in delivering high-voltage cop films like Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu.
So, what to expect from Yennai Arindhaal? If you look at the premise, “Yennai Arindhaal is the story of a man named Sathyadev, from the age of 13 till the age of 38,” it is a coming-of-age film. A young kid becoming man. Sathyadev’s mother wants him to be a doctor but he ends up being someone else. A cop? And, Yennai Arindhaal now becomes a cop-story, action-thriller which paves way to the inevitable GVM punch-line – “Another episode in a police officer’s life.” And, if you look at the lovely photographs of Ajith and Trisha in a coffee shop, Ajith and Anushka at the airport, Ajith, Gautham Menon brings out the die-hard romantic touch his films have long-known for which makes Yennai Arindhaal a romance drama. And like the eloquent portrayal of father-son relationship in Vaaranam Ayiram, here Gautham showcases beautiful moments between Ajith and Baby Anikha in the trailer, where Yennai Arindhaal seems like another slice-of-life drama. This sumptuous confection of genres is what Gautham Menon is good at and the fans are expecting him to deliver this time in style and hit the bull’s eye. Or as people on social media platforms banally say: “Mass + Class” is what we expect like no one on their timeline ever said it before.
For normal film buffs or if you would like to call them neutral fans or whatever, Yennai Arindhaal has a good number of things in store and elements to look forward to. Ajith’s majestic screen presence and his commanding voice modulation have always been an absolute delight to watch. Re-watch Mankatha if you differ. Ajith sports four different looks in the film including his much-loved salt-and-pepper makeover. Thiagarajan Kumararaja, the most celebrated debutant film-maker in Tamil cinema in the last decade, has helped Gautham Menon in the screenplay along with Bollywood screenwriter Shridhar Raghavan. To be precise, TK helped resolve climax portions of the film and made GVM realize certain stand-out moments in the story to arrive at a conclusion. It’s so, so happy to see a contemporary Tamil film-maker who says “I would love to take the direction chair and let screenwriters hand me over the script” loudly and credits writers as ‘Script Consultants’ in the film.
The antagonists in Gautham Menon’s films have always rose to fame for all the good reasons and earned due attention on par with the protagonists – Jeevan in Kaakha Kaakha and Daniel Balaji in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu are one of the most loved villains today. Yennai Arindhaal has Arun Vijay, a potential actor as the badass Victor, who sports a six-pack for the film; his menacing gaze in the trailer makes him one of the guys to watch out for. GVM films are known for slick dialogues and lifelike voice-modulation, which are his strengths.
It’s time to know Sathyadev from tomorrow.
The Dubai premiere is scheduled to happen at 12 AM IST. Stay Tuned to Only Kollywood for the first-on-net review if the premiere happens as planned.
Written by Surendhar MK
