Ayirathil Oruvan Review – A wonderful and bold attempt
Saw Ayirathil Oruvan from Lakshmi Theatre, Taverakare, Bangalore
NB: The film has got extreme positive and extreme negative reviews. Either you will hate it or will love it like anything. I belong to the second category. Don’t blame me if you didn’t like the movie.
Ayirathil Oruvan
Ayirathil Oruvan, made at whooping budget of 32 crores, is a fantasy adventure thriller based on Chola and Pandya history. The movie took 3 years for production. For non-Tamilians, i suggest you to read a synopsis of the movie before you watch it. Or you may not fully understand the movie.
Karthi, Reema Sen, Parthiban and Andrea Jeremiah have done a tremendous job in Ayirathil Oruvan. And this must be the best of role of Reema Sen in her entire film career.
There are some beautifully picturised scenes in the first half which was shot in Chalakkudy forests, Kerala. Watch out for the scene where the trio jumps into the river. The last 10 minutes of the first half is mind blowing. You will be wondering whether its a horror flick and will be looking at each other when the lights are switched on.
But the real surprise is the second half. The second half is entirely different from the first one and is like a new film. Its difficult to understand all the stuffs going on in the latter half. Its complicated and has got lots of twists. But once you understand the theme fully, you will be praising Selvaraghavan for writing such a script. The script of this movie is one of the best in recent times.
Frankly speaking, i understood the full script only after reading some reviews. There are some scenes without logic. But still, excellent theme and script. Never attempted before in Indian cinema.
And the climax is simply superb. The background music is awesome. Some scenes remind us of the atrocities that happened in Sri Lanka during the recent war in which Prabhakaran was killed.
Art direction is extra ordinary. You will understand that when you see the second half.
Inspite of all logicless scenes, the movie turns out to be a bold, different, confusing and wonderful attempt by the director. The movie is not recommended for the weak hearted and do not watch with family. I am not sure whether the Indian audience will accept such a theme. The movie contains an enormous amount of gore scenes, violence and nudity. And hence the movie is A rated.
The first version of Ayirathil Oruvan was more than 3 hours. And when i saw the movie, it was around 2:45 minutes. I think the theater owner himself did the trimming. The editing was bullshit and damn irritating in the 2nd half. I want to see the original version. May be i will watch it again from PVR.
I feel, because of its powerful theme, the movie will be remade in Hollywood with some changes 
My Rating
For first half – 3.5/5
For second half – 4.5/5
Overall rating – 4 out of 5 stars
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Writer and Director: Selvaraghavan
Starring: Karthi, Reema Sen, Parthiban, Andrea Jeremiah
Cinematography: Ramji
Music: GV Prakash Kumar