Aalavandhan

Warning: I have viewed this movie only in Tamil. Telugu and Hindi movie-goers are expected to add a pinch of salt while reading further.

This is one of the most hyped-up movies ever in Indian movie history. When people begin to wonder if it can live upto the hype, the movie reveals the calculated gradual publicity built up over the months. In case you haven't watched and read enough on television and the Web, do so immediately to comprehend the movie better.

The basic story is nothing new, but the movie delves to a large extent into the dark recesses of the psychopathic mind of Nandu. We get to view the real-plus-imaginary world inhabited by this schizophrenic character "with paranoid delusions", courtesy special effects and animation. All this happens even as an engaging action thriller unfolds on the screen. The delusion and flashback portions seem to slow down the pace. Many scenes involving Nandu send a chill down your spine, though the language and violence, at times, seems unfit for children.

While the commando operation in the beginning and the relationship between the lead pair remind of you Hollywood movies, the designer clothes worn by the antagonist and sponsor promotion towards the end are true Bollywood 'ishtyle'. What you get is a curious mix of cliches and innovations.

Kamal Haasan plays the negative character alternating between style and realism, though things seem to get repetitive. The other character of an NSG major seems much like the real-life Kamal, mouthing anti-religious remarks and sporting a unique lifestyle. Raveena manages to hold her own while Manisha is good despite appearing only in a few scenes. The dubbing for both of them seems odd on a few occasions. Talented actors like Gunaji and Gidwani seem wasted in roles with few scenes and little potential.

No stone has been left unturned when it comes to the technical aspects of the movie like art direction, cinematography, editing, sound effects and visual effects; but the computer graphics is found wanting sometimes. Double role picturisation has possibly never been better, even in Hollywood, though those movies rarely employ an actor portraying two roles. The attention to detail is also stunning.

The songs blend seamlessly with the movie, beyond expectations -- the title track serves as the background for a chase sequence and still manages to come out good! But this certainly isn't another Dil Chahta Hai for Shankar-Ehsaan Loy. The background score might seem mediocre at places when viewed in the surroundings of other superior elements. Vairamuthu's lyrics and poems bring out the various dimensions of the complex character. Symbolism is built into the script (done by Kamal Haasan himself) much like Hey Ram, reducing the work of the director.

To sum it up, this is an interesting masala movie, with exemplary techniques and a lot of sensible elements incorporated into it.

The human genome is a fascinating concept, and even more fascinating is how identical twins with the exactly same DNA can be extremely different and extremely alike. Abhay explores this philosophy, but in a more dramatized and dangerous setting; One twin kills for profession; one twin kills for enjoyment; One is a commando; one has escaped from a mental institute. Abhay delves deep into the double helix paradigm and into the psychology of a killer, and does what Tarsem Singh's, "The Cell", or Rakesh Mehra's, "Aks-the reflection" could not do.

Synopsis:

Abhay(Kamal Hassan) is the journey of a schizophrenic and fearless brother, whose past has wronged him and embedded its mark deep into his soul, creating a personal hell inside Abhay; A hell in which Abhay is living; A hell that haunts him every passing second and with every breath he takes. While Abhay spent most of his life in a mental asylum, his other twin Vijay(Kamal Hassan) was separated from him from childhood. Vijay is a commando that is due to marry his girlfriend, Tejashvari(Raveena Tandon), a news presenter for STAR TV, who is pregnant with his child. Wanting Abhay to share in with their celebrations, Vijay and Tejashvari decide to pay Abhay a visit at the asylum. A visit that meets with disastrous results. Abhay sees the reflection of his step mother in Tejashvari, a person who he immensely hated and caused his life to decay. Abhay's mission begins with Tejashvari, who he sees as an evil witch who is going to deteriorate Vijay's life, just like his step mother spoiled his fathers life. Abhay eventually manages to escape from the mental asylum and is now walking around free searching for the "witch" that his brother has just wed. Is the world safe from Abhay?

Kamal Hassan's story and screenplay is intelligent, well paced, innovative, engaging and extremely interesting. Character development is perfect. Each character has been well etched and contributes perfectly to the screenplay.

Abhay costing $7 million to produce, looks every dollar spent on it. Abhay is full of technical wizardry, 25 min of spectacular visual effects and animation executed marvellously by Total infotainment limited(India) and Cutting Edge(Australia).

Action and stunts by Vikram Dharma are stunning and well choreographed. Abhay has some very adrenaline pumping executed sequences and some very dangerous stunts. The most notable action sequences are in the climax sequences, which involves a long vehicle chase sequence, a hazardous bungie jump from atop a 50 story building, a jump from atop the same building onto a balloon suspended in the air, and then a fantastically choreographed fight sequence between Abhay and Vijay. Edting by M.U Kasi, is rapid fire. S.Tirru's cinematography is absolutely fantastic, he manages to capture the atmosphere very effectively and use some very advanced camera effects(motion control) to add to the visual splendour of Abhay.

Music is peppy and themed, and interwoven in the plot with purpose.

Kamal Hassan play's both the main character Abhay and Vijay. Normally I do not like Kamal Hassan's style of acting, I was very put off with his character portrayal in Hindustani, Hey Ram and Pushpak. However, he simply blew me away with Abhay. Kamal Hasaan has managed to seep deep into the character of Abhay and inject it with his life force. Kamal has built his body, learnt gestures and very well researched the personalities and behaviours of a psychopath killer for this role. However Abhay is not a two dimensional character as shown in most movies that deal with these themes. Kamal Hasaan performance adds one more dimension to Abhay's character, which normally would be perceived as the negative role, however Kamal's performance projects Abhay as both the hero and the villain.

Overall: A classic in every sense

I was just looking at the ratings and comments of some of Kamal's bold ventures. A comment above said the rain song was useless. Hello, the rain song is a dream song. It is important because the psycho imagines the (Manisha)lady is asking him to attend the show. He attends the show thinking that Raveena (the women he wants to kill) would also be present as the show is covered by the TV Channel she's working.

For some who thought the movie was crap. Well, all i could say is if only you know the language (Tamil) and the original meanings, ul appreciate him. Kamal uses the different Indian languages and finds fun eg: Rao is a typical Telugu name and Rao also means early morning in Tamil. You would never get it in translated versions.

To point one, the narration of the kid-Nandhu(Psycho) is brilliant. When the brothers toss the coin to choose which 1 of them stays with father, Nandhu(Psycho) seeing it going against him would say, 'It's perhaps my duty to safeguard my lil brother. Even wen we (Brothers) wer born, I first let the younger one out (science - younger of the twin comes out 1st) and then came to the world. So perhaps this is what I am born for'...huh, who would get this! n then there r several pieces of brilliance in the movie.

Movie might not have liked in 2001 but i watched it today and i am damn sure this is best movie of kamal hassan i have ever seen ev..what a acting.if it released today, it will get huge response👌

Normally I am a huge fan of Kamal, and somehow this film also managed to grab my attention!

Alavandhan successfully showcases the extreme talent of Kamal Hasan, as pulling off two very different roles is no less than a challenge. The music is pretty good and what really engaged me was the gripping atmosphere throughout.

However, I would not give the film a full rating as the concluding elements really drag a bit!

Anyhow, it's a great experience! My rating would be 8.2 out of 10. Definitely worth a watch.