Movie: Arrambam(Thamizh, 2013)
Plot: A man takes on to terrorism to inflict pain on a minister & his accomplices. He uses mean ways to persuade a hacker & forces him to provide more than a handful in his mission. The smart hacker tries his best to alert the police of the terrorist & later, through a gruesome flashback, he is made to realise that the man's acts were all to fight against a corrupt political system. Will he joins forces to help the mission get accomplished or does he play it safe?!
What Works?
Plot: A man takes on to terrorism to inflict pain on a minister & his accomplices. He uses mean ways to persuade a hacker & forces him to provide more than a handful in his mission. The smart hacker tries his best to alert the police of the terrorist & later, through a gruesome flashback, he is made to realise that the man's acts were all to fight against a corrupt political system. Will he joins forces to help the mission get accomplished or does he play it safe?!
What Works?
- Ajith Kumar, slowly but surely, is trying to redefine the lexicon that exists for commercial heroes in Tamil Cinema. With his arresting presence, fierceful body language, stylish demeanour & risky stunts, he proves there is no need for heroes to go around loud-mouthing punches & dancing around trees in duets; This is the 3rd consecutive film he has skipped those rituals & with Arrambam, has made it work in two! Arya provides a nice foil with his quirky mannerisms & funny one-liners.
- It is 2/2 for Nayanthara since her comeback & the Arya/Tapsee pairing surprises us in being refreshing, thanks to Vishnu's treatment!
- Vishnuvardhan's stylish presentation shows itself up in a number of places, combining well with Om Prakash's camerawork & Veteran editor Sreekar Prasad's slick editing!
- Subha, in spite of coming up with a story beaten to death in Tamil Cinema, offer some crisp dialogues reminding us of Sujatha (reminding & not filling his shoes).
- The stunts are the other major highlights of this film & in providing engaging fight sequences (including an impactful one involving Ajith & Rana Daggubati), Lee Whitaker deserves a worthy mention.
- Yuvan's songs have been picturised with some nice creativity.
What Doesn't?
- Vishnuvardhan has used a story that has been dealt with innumerous times & inspite of his best efforts in keeping us completely involved, we are made to feel the drag due to the predictable sequences in & post flashback.
- For the logic fanboys, there are quite a number of loopholes to feast on in Arrambam. Sampling a few - A hacker, who with his fancy softwares can hack into anything & everything, An escaped convict flying across countries at will etc.
- Yuvan's background music is a definite dampener & it is a puzzle why the grand track that comes in the trailer has been used minimally!
Arrambam has its flaws but a refreshing first half, a slick flashback & Ajith's overwhelming presence make this click!