Le 7ème sens

Social messages and connecting back to the history are two themes that have awed movie makers of this part of the country. Murugadoss, once again finds his path in the same. Well done this time to kindle the curiosity in you and provoke some native jingoism. We have seen that in plenty in the past of Tamil cinema, thankfully this time, its not the loud war-cry-kind of jingoism but done in its subtle way. However that said, 7aum Arivu is loaded with the 'templated movie formats' needed to appease all classes of audience as the movie circuit popularly puts it.

7aum Arivu starts of brilliantly connecting back to history as how Bodhidharma went past Tamilnadu, past India to China to preach medicine and self defense, two most important elixirs. And then how centuries later, the Chinese attempt to use the same against India and thrawt the very roots of it. Thoughts of a bio-war and Tamil oppression in the movie gives that tinge of the current political undercurrent prevalent, Murugadoss scores here. Long story short, no spoilers, Aravind is in the line of progeny of Bodhidharma and Subha the research scholar trying to prove that DNAs carry hereditary characteristics of ancient forefathers and hence the DNA of Bhodidharama's descendants may have the immense sense of healing and protection, which if invoked is of great benfit to mankind. Of course the Chinese unhappy about this pursuit, the economical intentions that are revealed later, have their martial arts specialist Dong Lee on a mission to end the research of Subha and naturally begin the bio-war against India. Now why just India? Thats leaves you pondering, maybe the subtle political undercurrent between India-China.

Suriya is a treat to watch. Graceful as Bhodhidharma and stylish as Aravind, you can't ask for more from this professional. Doubt if anybody else could have pulled of this with such ease. Shruti has her part pretty well played as Subha. Women playing significant roles in a Murugadoss movie doesn't surprise us and naturally deserves due apperciation. The stone-cold bad man,Johnny Tri Nguyen from China does his part neatly. His stunts are probably the only note-worthy martial arts expo in the movie. Songs are catchy, well placed and passes on with the movie. Ravi K Chandiran leaves his magic behind in the songs as usual. With that said, the movie though kindles your curiosity to go google and run thru wikipedia to ascertain facts and fiction, the movie leaves you with the big lows of the typical format-movie problem. The stunts are thoroughly disappointing. A movie about a martial arts legendary with no spectacle of martial arts is on the downside. Peter Hein's trademark flying cars and human bodies are plenty and leaves a sore in the mind.

A great storyline, a subtle jingoism, good performances from Surya and Shruti and a few here and there 'so-called-appease-all' movie making style,leaves you wanting a bit more from Murugadoss, maybe he has reserved it for the Hindi version with Aamir Khan if he does one. :) 7am Arivu, a neat entertainer, picks your thoughts at places and leaves you wanting for more at certain others.

One More Pearl added to the crown of Tamil Cinema!! Hats-off to AR.Murugadoss, for taking up a initiative to reveal some of the hidden truths about our Language(Tamil)and our Pallava king(BodhiDharma). :):)

The choice of starring is also an added Pros. :)

The Screenplay is bit sluggish with unnecessary songs at regular interval. :(

The dialogues are very good which makes really some sense for so many people who thinks other foreign languages are superior than 'Tamil'.

Stunts: Peter Hein did no mistake(Surya too).

Music: Less than Expected. :(

All together even though we have some negatives in the movie,Still the Pros overcomes it. Sure its a worth watch movie.. :) :) :)

7 Am Arivu -- Really Makes Some Sense!!

One of the best films in India. It is a film beyond its time. Suriya who always does new movies has given us another spectaculation which is great. A very brave and good try. The whole crew has stepped its foot beyond a limit producing great fictions. I appreciate 7am Arivu. ATB for your future projects. Huge Love Actor Suriya!

7am Arivu is one of the most-anticipated and most-awaited film during the Diwali season and certainly, it is worth waiting for such a wonderfully crafted film.

Surya has done a magnificent job. His portrayal of both Aravind, the circus artist and Bodhidharma is simply brilliant. Hats off to him for giving us such an excellent performance. Shruthi Haasan, making her debut in Tamil cinema plays her role as Subha Srinivasan perfectly. The role of a researcher is tailor-made for her. Apart from the lead stars, Johnny Nguyen executed his role as the suave and menacing Dong Li with sheer excellence.

The storyline which links history with science is a novel concept. Furthermore, it is about South Indian history which have been never explored to such a deep extent. A.R. Murugadoss proved yet again that he could deal with a complex subject without hassle.

Ravi K.Chandran's cinematography is the key element of the film. His picturization is brilliant, be it ancient China or present-day Chennai or the songs. Anthony's editing maintains the pace of the film. The action sequences by Peter Hein is another highlight of the film. The brief hand-to-hand combat sequence in the climax is of top quality.

Harris Jayaraj's BGM fits the mood of the scenes perfectly although it is repetitive in certain scenes. The songs are good but it does not bring back the Ghajini effect. Art direction by Rajeevan is top-class, especially the Chinese village and the lab. One word - top class.

The only minus point of the film is the CGI shots. It could have been better but that does not affect the entire film. Overall, 7am Arivu is another brilliantly executed subject by Murugadoss. The amount of hard- work by Surya and the rest is clearly evident. A.R. Murugadoss proved again that he is one man who is capable of delivering a world-class movie.

If you have watched the movie and think it's one of the best movies made in Tamil cinema, I suggest you to close this window at once and move on. This review is going to be a stark critique of the movie.

The problem with today's Tamil movie directors is that they want to ape their world cinema counterparts but don't understand that they are failing miserably. 7aum Arivu is one such attempt where the director seems to be extremely confused on the subject he wanted to portray on screen. 7aum Arivu is a movie about Aravind (Surya) who is an offspring of the Bodhidarman (Surya) lineage. Bodhidarman or Damo (as he is known to the South East Asian world) is a 6th century Pallava Prince, who made it to China, cured some diseases and said to have initiated the Shaolin Temple. Aravind falls in love with Suba (Shruti Hassan – making her Tamil debut), who is hovering behind Aravind to finish her study on "genetic memory" (a study on inheritance of genetic intelligence from the forefathers). Meanwhile, the Chinese Government (a new villain for Indian cinema!!!) sends Dong Lee (Johnny Tri Nguyen), a Shaolin warrior to start something called Operation Red and also kill Suba. They think that Suba would be a hindrance to their operation as she trying to bring Bodhidarman through genetic modification on Aravind. The secret behind Operation Red, Suba – Aravind's fight against Dong Lee and return of Bodhidarman is shown in a languid and boring 168 minute movie reel

The movie starts with a newsreel, literally. I think the director was worried that theaters don't show newsreels these days and so he took the mantle to show one. It even has the voice of the guy who gives the background voice for Nijam program in Sun TV. The director takes his time to unwind the love story of lead actors with 3 songs and the love is so fragile that you will actually LOL when he comes to know the truth about Suba's intentions. Surya gets another chance to show off his 6 packs and of course nothing to worry about his acting because there isn't much scope in the movie. Shruthi on the other hand has the maximum screen space but she is far from convincing as a Genetic Research Scientist. She looks amateurish and I just hope she inherits some "Genetic Memory" from her father. The only character that will stay in your mind is Johnny Tri Nguyen's Dong Lee. I think it's the time of villains in Tamil cinema, Johnny looks menacing and suits the role to the "T". But for better stunts of his, do watch his Vietnamese movies. Better actors like Abinaya (Nadodigal) and Aswin (Ganesh of Mankatha) are wasted in small insignificant roles.

Ravi K.Chandran's camera work in the initial newsreel is scintillating while Rajeevan's recreation of Shaolin is interesting but with such technical wizardry AR Murugadass has failed to deliver a world class movie he promised. As I said earlier, he is not clear what exactly he wanted to portray. The movie tries to be a historical fiction and a science fiction with doses of Tamil propaganda in a mas ala format. You can call it a Tamil movie, I call it a confusion. There are innumerable factual errors like showing Tawang Monastery (I think so, but its not definitely Shaolin Temple) as Shaolin Temple to Shaolin monks using mobile phones, it looks like a joke. The concept of using China as the new villain is interesting but unconvincing and of bad taste. The way Johnny Nguyen kills people using hypnotism is impressive but can the martial arts be taught in few seconds through hypnotism !!! (duh). The sequence where a young girl and a sanitary worker doing martial arts fight is extremely funny to see and it's one of the worst CGI sequences you can see. Sometimes you may end up feeling that you are watching a zombie movie.

7aum Arivu had the right premise of becoming a historical fiction or a science fiction but it ends up as a run of the mill mas ala flick with unimpressive acting,terrible music score and BM Puff ( please don't ask me to review Harris Jayaraj's music) and inferior direction.

I give a 6 star rating for 6 am arrive sry 7th sense it seems only for the excellent research work and a very good premise for Tamil cinema lovers.It would have been a classic but for a poor screenplay and an emotional directors work.