However, having booked for "7am arivu" almost a week before all of this, I was upset that I had wasted another 120 bucks of my money for another boring venture. Note: I had watched "Raavanan", "Kaavalan", "Manmadhan Ambu", etc this year, some of them FDFS only to be disappointed!
On Friday, I also watched "Velayudham" at Padmam for Evening Show and felt that it was a nice popcorn entertainment movie and assumed that most people who claimed that "Velayudham" was better than "7am arivu" were correct!
So, I went to "7am arivu" for 7:15 show at Sunday morning expecting myself to be bored and irritated, but hey, to my pleasant surprise, found the movie to be NOT BORING, NOT IRRITATING and NOT MOKKAI..
Let us address the negative critics first before moving to the positives:
1. That the movie was over-hyped:
Very true, from what I hear. But I don't watch too much of TV (yes, even the Diwali special shows included), so I was thankfully masked from most of the hype. But judging from the outcry of so many people, I guess that yes, the movie was probably a little over-hyped, but so what?
I have seen worse movies that were over-hyped (I can name those but that would needlessly start a war of words between "mass hero" fans) and this one definitely is much much better than that!
2. That the storyline was absurd:
True! But hey, its not a documentary about the life of "Bodhidharman" to have a plausible, believable story line. There is an element of fantasy in it and it was, I must say, well executed. Someone as smart as ARM should not have used the word "genetic memory" to explain how "Bodhidharman"'s memory and skills could be inherited by the present day Aravindan (Surya). Someone who understands what that term means would laugh at it.
Apart from that, I found nothing too absurd with the story. If you want reality, go watch Discovery channel! If you come to an escapist medium like Tamil Cinema and ask a hundred questions of how this is fair or not, plausible or not, believable or not is stupidity. Some suapension of disbelief is always necessary!
3. That the graphics were bad in the movie:
Firstly, I request everyone who claims that the graphics were bad in this movie to come and watch the movie in theater before complaining about the graphics. Even "Avatar" would have sucked to you people because you watched a TC rip of the movie in which the graphics were bad!
If, for a budget of 84 crores (that is what i heard! Correct me if I'm wrong!) someone could make a movie with better graphics than this, I would stop writing reviews!
4. That the first half was very boring:
I beg to differ! Time didn't drag on when i watched the movie, either in the first or second half. The biggest plus of the movie was the arresting cinematography by Ravi.K.Chandran. I never felt like walking out of the theater during any of the songs in the first half.
The love sequence between Surya and Sruthi Hassan was not boring, as many reviewers had put it, though it was difficult to believe that a circus artist would walk around in MGM, Skywalk, etc in new clothes at all times.
5. That the zombie-like fight sequence in the second half was funny:
It was deliberately meant to be that way. And the use of CG was near perfect, so stop blaming it! Kudos to ARM for bringing in a zombie like sequence for the first time in tamil film history! :D :P
6. That the use of "Eelam" has been deliberately made to gain people's sympathy and as a marketing gimmickry:
Please shut it, people! All I saw in the movie was a director's genuine angst against the atrocity committed over thousands of people in Lanka. It is ARM's first movie after the LTTE has been overthrown and obviously, he wanted to register his views too! Don't blow it out of proportions!
7. That Sruthi Hassan's acting was flat:
Yes, to this, I completely agree. She seems to have 4 or 5 standard expressions after which all she seems to be able to muster is a stone-face. A real insult to her daddy, if you ask me :D. If she were not as gorgeous as she is, I would actually hurl a few abuses at her! :P
8. That the movie praises Tamil Language when its not needed, and as a marketing gimmickry:
No, I think it is much needed. People who know a little bit of history will understand that the Tamils had a rich cultural heritage. ARM doesn't go overboard with his praises over the Tamil language. It is for the same reason that we misunderstood "Ayirathil Oruvan". A lot of pathetic Tamils couldn't understand the ancient Tamil language spoken in the second half.. Pathetic! Whether ARM praises Tamil language and Tamil culture or not, I am always a proud Tamil. Now that he has, I am just a little more proud!
Now that we have addressed the negatives, all I got to tell you is don't believe the fake reviews of people who haven't watched the movie.
Excellent technicians have played a vital role in making the movie crisp and entertaining. Just, keep your brain at home; go to the theater and enjoy some good popcorn entertainment.
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