Yennai Arindhaal… (2015)

Language is not a bar for art. Especially, if you’re a movie lover then it should never be. I have a special respect towards Tamil Cinema as it’s the most advanced South Indian Film Industry next to Malayalam. Among the creators who took it to the next level, Gautham Vasudev Menon is one. I adore his simple and civilized film-making. He came up with “Yennai Arindhaal” this year starring Ajith, Arun Vijay, Trisha and Anushka in pivotal roles.

Plot :

It’s a life of a cop Satyadev (Ajith Kumar) who goes by his heart in his profession. It’s a portrayal of struggles and attachments at various stages of his life.

Screenplay :

Gautham Menon always comes up with a thin lined plot but his screenplay does everything. He followed the same in this flick as well.

Menon always tries to be simple in film-making. Introduction of the protagonist’s character which is a cop is expected to be of a high budgeted scene. But he had done it with a simple close-up shot in the plane. This is far away from the regular dramatic introductions. He always tries to elevate the scenes in a simple manner but it definitely lets you praise him. One of such scenes is the transformation of Satyadev. Here Harris Jayaraj has given his complete contribution with the background score.

Besides Menon’s previous police stories like Kaakha Kaakha (remade as “Gharshana” in Telugu starring Venkatesh) and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (dubbed as “Raghavan” in Telugu), he added a supernatural emotional attachment to Satyadev’s character and that’s his assassinated father’s (Nassar) character. This point defines the characteristic of Satyadev who follows his heart whenever he has a conflict. The notable scene of such scenario is where Satya’s father speaks to him and urges him to accept the money given by one of the antagonists (Aashish Vidyarthi).

Its previous scene completely depicts Menon’s way of handling reality in films. Rather than delivering powerful dramatic dialogues, he elevated the scene as well as Satya’s character with a real and decent heroism.

The screenplay turns more realistic while portraying Satya’s personal life, starting with his relationship with a divorcee Hemaanika (Trisha Krishnan). It’s the most matured love story watched on screen these days. The scene where Satya says he felt respect towards her on their first meeting shows the maturity of director in handling such sensitive scenes. Later, this goes in the same way. The point at which Satya proposes Hemaanika to marry him can be quoted as the most sensible scene of the film.

There are a number of people important for Satya at different stages of his life. One such and most important is Esha (Trisha’s daughter). Taking an oath to look after her his whole life and the inner conflicts he faces in prioritizing his profession and his daughter whom he loves most in the life, made the Satya’s character a highly respectable one. There comes a song “Unakenna Venum Sollu” visualizing the journey of Satya with Esha, just touches the hearts.

As audience might feel the movie is so dramatic, Menon reverted Satya and added a sub plot surrounding Thenmozhi’s character in the screenplay. Here Victor’s character, which goes into hibernation in the beginning, becomes the show stealer till the end. Arun Vijay’s performance is highly appreciable in this sequence. The rest of the screenplay deals with how Satya solved the problem of Thenmozhi and how he ended up Victor in his life.

So Yennai Arindhaal is a movie for both who love drama and who need reality in movies.

Music :

After Vaaranam Aayiram (Surya S/O Krishnan), Menon teamed up with his Harris Jayaraj for this film. Harris enhanced the movie with his soothing melodies and elevating background score. My personal favourites are “Mazhai Vara Pogudhae”, “Unakenna Venum Sollu”. These songs are visualized very well in Menon’s style as both of them are embedded in the screenplay narration.

Eminences :

1) Ajith Kumar. The whole movie is about the life of Satya. Ajith has involved himself and put all his efforts in such a way that audiences travel with Satya rather than Ajith. His gait is awestruck with two different variations i.e, younger Satya and a middle-aged Satya. I can say he’s the best part of this movie.

2) Arun Vijay’s Performance. As long as you watch this movie, he steals your eyes with his performance especially from the pre-climax.

3) Dan Macarthur’s photography. He’s one of the main assets of this movie. There are some wonderful shots captured in this movie.