Ameerin Aadhi Bhagavan

My review: Ameerin Aadhi Bhagavan

Ameer is known to make movies at a very leisurely pace which is reflected in the fact that "Ameerin Aadhi Bhagavan" is only his fourth film in ten years. This one especially is released after a gap of six years following his previous one "Paruthiveeran" which was both critically as well as commercially acclaimed. Each of his three movies so far are all of different genres none of them resembling the other in any way yet each one of them special in their own way. This time around too, Ameer has tried a new genre totally different from any of his previous ones but whether he has managed to keep the audience hooked to the movie like he did with the past movies of his is a big question mark.

At the outset one gets two big doubts, one why it took almost two years for Ameer to make this movie and how is the tag line "A mafioso action love story " is relevant to this movie especially where is the "love" in the story ?  The gripping screenplay that one is used to with Ameer's movies so far is sadly missing this time. What could have been a power-packed action thriller if only the screenplay was a bit better ends up a boring movie with screenplay almost snail paced and tiring, testing one's patience. Especially the first half is poor with nothing actually happening in the story. The so-called love story that is being portrayed in the first half lacks punch, may be intended that way as the story demands. The spark between the lead pair was never seen onscreen but the answer for that is revealed in the second half. 

Second half is better with introduction of the Bhagavan character and the revelation of the real character of the heroine. Though most of the twists are guessable and there is nothing that surprising as the movie goes, till the end the movie moves along the expected lines. Hence the shock which the audience ought to have experienced is missing whenever the so-called twists are unraveled. Also due the poor writing one can't sympathize or root for the protagonist when he undergoes all those hardships, especially since he himself is not that a innocent or gullible person in the first place rather he is equally as ruthless and mean as his tormentors.     

Heart goes to the poor Jayam Ravi who has spent almost two years with this project (may be with the anticipation of emulating what happened to Suriya, Jiiva and Karthi after they worked with Ameer). It's been almost five years since he has given a hit last one being "Santosh Subramaniam" way back in 2008. Except that he has blindly trusted Ameer's script he has not done anything else wrong. He has given his whole-hearted effort in both the roles he plays, though the Bhagavan character being more flamboyant of the two captures all the eyeballs. He is more restrained and dignified in the character of Aadhi and he has carried it on his shoulder very well. One can only hope his script selection improves and he is back on his winning ways.

Neetu Chandra's role is not the regular damsel in distress or madly in romance kind of a role. She has a substantial part to play and in many places dominates hero's character. As with his previous movies, this time too Ameer has written a strong female character and Neetu does justice to it. Though at certain instances her character is caricaturized with over doing of the smoking and sarcastic dialogues, overall it is a strong character. It is also a huge relief that no justification is given for her role which is usually the norm in Tamil movies (that for a heroine to be negative she  herself must have been a victim previously ). She is as ruthless and mean as the other male character in the movie. Her expertise with martial arts is evident in the climax action sequences which is well choreographed and performed by both Neetu and Ravi.

Since the movie is focused mostly on Ravi and Neetu , others don't have much to do. Babu Antony disappears after initial flourish, Sudha Chandran's role is under-defined, Shaiju Kurup lends adequate support.

Action sequences are well choreographed and shot. They are treat for the action lovers. Movie is technically brilliant with a slick and stylish cinematography by Devraj. Editing plays the spoilsport failing to spruce up the narration, S.P.Ahmed is the editor.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's music this time is a big letdown. Neither the songs nor the background score are good enough. Especially the background score is very lazy. Background score fails to support many  sequences which would have made a better impact with a better score.

"Ameerin Aadhi Bhagavan"  is by far the weakest of all Ameer's movies. Usually he is good with his dialogues  but this time around though it is full of inane and cliched ones. Once again it is proved that however good the acting  or technically superior the movie is, if the narration and the screenplay is not engaging, then it would be hard to sustain the interest of the viewers.

On the whole, one can watch it for the top-class acting from the lead pair, technical wizardry and if you are someone who don't mind getting compromised content wise. Else skip it.

Bottomline: Mindless action.

2.5/5