Naan Kadavul

Philosophically rich and very realistic to those who have seen and dwelt in the social-law defying black hole that is sometimes India. Divine and terrible at once, spiritual and materialistic living hand in hand. Like the beggars around the holy man in the South Indian temple who themselves dress themselves up as great sadhus but are mere men. It takes a trained eye to differentiate the true sadhus from the fake in India.

This is not a brutal movie deifying moral killing. It is a true telling of the beliefs and lives of a sect of people who practice a system of law and order much older than the English language. The court scene punctuates the point further; does a easily corruptible legal system really serve justice better than the judgment of one realised soul? What the movie doesn't perhaps cover too well is that by punishing the unjust/unwilling to live, the Aghori is taking on his/her karma on himself and considers it a task that he is duty bound to do.

The personality of Rudra's mother is a stereotype taken out of vedantic stories of mothers who want the best for their children yet who struggle to release their offspring who wish to dedicate their lives to god. Very similar to a mothers reaction to a child wishing to become a nun or a priest in the western world. The sage Ramana Maharishi's mother struggled similarly to accept his calling.

They say you cannot convert into Hinduism, that you must be born into it. Perhaps more such movies are necessary in this globalised age for the world to breach this misconception and bring the philosophies of the east and west together. There is still so much I can learn from this movie and I intend to watch it often enough to grasp exactly what the writers were trying to say.

1 extra star for Arya's acting! Throughout the movie i was convinced i was watching an Aghori baba and not Arya. I think he deserved a National Award for this movie. Anyways, coming to the movie it's disturbing, shocking and at the same time it's a naked truth. A truth that we all choose to not look at because it disturbs our lives.

The climax is not something i had expected and it kept me horrified for days. This movie is the reason why i explored Hindu spirituality in more detail and the concepts of Aghoris...it's transformed my way of looking at life.

Naan Kadavul may not have had the box office run of its commercial stereotype counterparts but it has every aspect that exemplifies a great movie. Bala has the tendency to bring out the best of every actor he directs and Naan Kadavul is no exception in this regard. Every member of the acting crew has lived their characters. Arya's impact, while short, is majestic and adds an aura yet unseen in Tamil cinema. Every scene has been brilliantly crafted and Bala's attention to detail is second to none. Illayaraja music adds vibrancy to what is already a magnificent piece of art and takes its beauty to an entirely different level. The directorial standard set by Bala will hold as a benchmark for many a generations to come.

Well I should say that I am just not a movie goer, but a movie analyzer. And it takes a lot of things for me to be impressed by an movie. This master piece made by the legend in the making (BALA)is far away from words. This is pure brilliance and will surely get a place in the world cinema. I don't care if the movie did well or not in the box office

Two extremists (one of the Agori and the other is of the beggar's life)of our social world, made to meet each other at a point in the movie which mesmerizes the movie watcher. This is not a formula movie flick and will not satisfy every audience, but whoever want to see a movie that is beyond a normal one, here it is

The way in which Arya's charactered is been told him to do

The life in the back ground music given by our Illayaraja

And each and every character told in the movie itself is an art

The hero is clearly none other than the director of the movie. My rating is 8/10

One of the bold and unique movie ever made! This movie for sure is not for the faint-hearted. Wish the director could tone down the gore and violence in his movies, even this movie has quite a lot of disturbing visuals. Apart from that, the movie is brilliantly made with pitch- perfect detailing, the exquisite photography and the brilliant re- recording. The lead performers as well as some newbies were top class. Rajendran, the antagonist, was absolutely terrifying. The Kasi episodes with the priest are intensely shot, i haven't seen any similar scenes in any other movie. So are the humorous dance episode inside a police station, you have to watch the expressions of the actors mimicking old actors, terrific indeed!!