ANBANAVAN ASARADHAVAN ADANGATHAVAN (2017)
Director: Adhik Ravichandran
Casts: STR, Shriya Saran, Tamannah, VTV Ganesh, Motta Rajendran, Kovai Sarala
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Language: Tamil
Genre: Action / Comedy
Plot:
Dubai police officers try to track down a notorious mafia kingpin when his best friend gets caught. He starts to confess how small time gangster, Madurai Michael (STR) went on to become a national level don.
Review:
As much as the plot in paper sounds exciting, ‘AAA’ is overloaded with many genre conventions of a masala flick without having a proper, coherent story. What starts off as a promising 80s gangster flick, gets self-indulgent in creating scenes to glorify the hero rather than progressing in the narration.
The comedy tracks in the first half are enjoyable but coated with a little crass double meaning line that might work with the youngsters. However, it becomes too excessive when it is sprinkled throughout the film unnecessarily. After translating into the second half, the film gets filled with scenes that are merely written to worship STR rather than actually tell us a story.
The 1980s portions are based in Madurai but yet the language spoken by the characters is so contemporary and Chennai based. The police track and Ashwin Thaatha track looks like two different films with zero emotional or narrative connection.
The last 15 minutes is when the story starts but how far the audience can hold on in the dreary, unconvincing Ashwin Thaatha chapter? And then comes an unnecessary cameo at the end and a shocking (pun intended) set up for the part two that beats the audience patience to death.
On the brighter side, STR’s charisma is a joy to watch but the excessive masala moments and slow motion walks rip away the charm. His Ashwin Thaatha character doesn’t look convincing in terms of both plot’s logical flow and the make up.
It seems that STR has gained weight for the character but after watching the film, we might even question what is the need for that.
Shriya looks uninterested while Tamannah serves as a perfect example of women objectification in films. VTV Ganesh does not even add any value in comical scenes while Motta Rajendran and Kovai Sarala shine well in their limited screen space.
Yuvan Shankar Raja-STR combo rarely disappoints and in AAA, it serves as the only saving grace for general audience to sit through the movie. His ‘Trend Song’ and ‘Ratham En Ratham’ are trendy and massy while the BGM is his recent best. Be it the romantic theme music or the monstrous mass music, Yuvan sparkles with passion.
After delivering a sensational hit with ‘Trisha Illana Nayanthara’, Adhik has settled down with a mediocre story with an even lethargic execution. If not for Yuvan, the film might have made the young filmmaker’s future a question mark.
This film might even disappoint the targeted masala film lovers and STR fans due to the lack of story. How long filmmakers are going to underestimate the intellectual capability of the audience in the name of commercial cinema and dilute the true meaning of it?
All said, let’s wait and see whether the second dimension will make up for this lacklustre.
VERDICT:
Besides Yuvan's musical elevation and STR's charisma, 'AAA' is nothing but a hero glorification flick, overloaded with mass moments, that has a very minimal cinematic purpose.
CELLULOID METER- 2/5 :
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