Tiyaan

I'll be honest with what I really liked about 'Tiyaan': the guts shown by the makers in addressing an increasingly alarming issue faced by Indians today - violence in the name of religion. What is not so great is the manner in which scenarist Murali Gopy and director Jiyen Krishnakumar have chosen to get this point across.

Mahashay Bhagwan (Murali Gopy), a self-proclaimed godman wants to take over property in rural Uttarakhand to build a new ashram much to the chagrin of the villagefolk - a heterogeneous mix of communities and people from various religions (and castes) that have been living in harmony for decades. Standing in Bhagwan's way is a Brahmin scholar Pattabhiramagiri (Indrajith) and a couple of his allies (who give into Mahashay's manipulations early on). Things get personal for Pattabhiramagiri when his family is at the receiving end of threats/dirty deeds from Mahashay Bhagwan. Coming to his eventual aid is a gangster-turned-fakir who goes by the name of Aslan Mohammed (Prithviraj), the story of whom is told in detail in the latter half.

The first twenty minutes (before Gopy's entry) are undeniably the best part of the film: people in the village are going about their usual business - the sight of goons terrorizing the locals in the name of religion has become a familiar sight; Suraaj and Ananya lend a completely down-to-earth tone to the scenario. But once the "stars" take over, the film tries to cater to the artsy and the massy all at once - an effort the makers fail desperately in.

There are a whole bunch of scenes pointing fingers at incidents of 'religious intolerance' taking place throughout the country: Suraaj's character renames his shop from Nair's to Nayyar's in an endeavor to save his livelihood, a cop beating up his son for eating beef (while the financiers of the godman gorge on beef-burgers), Muslim dwellers leaving town when an extremist Hindu godman begins to rule the roost - more importantly, these segments are trying to make a statement. But where it fails is in the fact that while the film preaches about throwing away all sorts of casteist and religious segregation, it does so by making Brahmanism look stronger (trivia: the stretch where Pattarabhiramagiri exclaims that he's a Brahmin and the goons dare not touch him; the interval block where a small Dalit kid, who draws water from Pattabhiramagiri's well which apparently is the only potable source in the village, bows down at the scholar in the same manner that he was taught to pray to the gods, earlier in the movie.)

The unhurried nature of the screenplay also makes the audience feel laggard. Once we see Aslan Mohammed on-screen, we know that he's going to be the saviour for Pattabhiramagiri by default. This is again spoonfed to the audience through segments laced with philosophical dialogue. Aslan's flashback sequence almost plays out like a stark revenge drama where people just keep dying. Aslan's character is undoubtedly the trump card here - but the screenplay doesn't put him to good use - his relationship with Pattabhi itself feels feigned. I wonder how things would've been had they met during normal times (or would they have at all?). Prithviraj's stoic stance does help elevate Aslan marginally. The casting choices are more or less fine - even the (at times) hammy Gopy. It's the writing that lets them and the viewers down. I do believe that this screenplay would have actually been excellent material for a play/novel than a film.

The (couple of) fight sequences are unimaginatively choreographed - well, this was where the movie tried reminding us that the makers' intentions were purely "commercial" but unfortunately, they fail in this domain too. Gopi Sunder's background score gets repetitive because the film basically revolves around three characters with each having their own distinct score, played to the hilt till our ear-drums can take no more. DOP Satheesh Kurup has captured the Northern Plains in all its brownness that kind of imparts an idiosyncratic flavor to the movie. At 2h 46m, it almost feels that the edit department didn't show a lot of sincerity to their task. What a long wait it was, for a finale that could've been predicted so effortlessly.

Verdict: A complete misfire!

The grandeur of Tiyaan is enough to attract you into its world of magical realism and religious madness but blame the tepid screenplay the journey becomes long-winded and repetitive. Prithviraj Sukumaran is a Muslim demi-god of sorts who is out here to bring about communal peace by helping Indrajith Sukumaran's Brahmin character keep his honor. Murali Gopy is the prime villain of the world in the disguise of a sick Hindu godman remind you of the news headline you read today. Religious extremism has been sampled before in countless films, but not as intricately as in Jiyen Krishnakumar's debut feature that has more to do with the current scenario and state of religions and quasi-religions in the world and their conjunction that often has dire consequences. Running at more than 160 minutes, the film hopes to convey few messages about blind piety and how it is affecting the brotherhood but ends up dissolving in its own vile complexity. What starts as a bearable drama with potential to raise questions turns into a mess that has multiple interpretations, none of which make sense owing to the lack of clarity in idea. Tiyaan is, thus, an ambitious play about the effects of theology in a world filled with blind faith and power abuse, and if you are hoping to enjoy it, take packets of patience as offerings. TN.

I highly recommend every Indian should watch this movie which is against Godmen in our country. Glad that Gopi's son had the guts to pen down a strong script based on this. Hats off to Prithviraj to produce this movie. Lot of applause to Indrajith who made his father Sukumaran proud of his selective roles. The way he delivers each dialogue is breath taking. He has such a great masculine voice. 1000 words is not enough to praise the star power shown by prithviraj in this movie. His Hindi dialogues and the way he walks during actions scenes is a motivation to theatre front row boys to clap their hands till it pains. Wish i can also watch it in our Indian theatres with rest of prithviraj fans. Gopi's son's script is amazing and so thrilling till the end. Prithviraj was too too good in action scenes and after his transaction in the movie. Highly recommending you all my dear brothers to watch this movie.

First f all this s not everyone's movie.... In that week itself when I saw this movie for the first time I had watched the same more than thrice.... that much it is For me.... gives tons f +veness to me by learning something from this awesome film. Ladies and gentlemen, you all must see this film and you all must learn a huge fact that, there is an ULTIMATE POWER that controls the entire UNIVERSE and we all belongs to him. In fact we all are a part of than enormous amount of energy. Without his permission nothing has happened in this. Universe and without him nothing is going to happen at the same time. We all need to understand a huge fact that, the ultimate power is INSIDE US. He has given that knowledge through a lot of ways and this movie s one among those. Not just to learn from it but we need to follow it i our life. The best part of the movie is the CLIMAX itself saying that The HIDDEN, The UNKNOWN, The ULTIMATE power is INSIDE us which means both the Lord and ourself are the same. I'm not sure about the word that could be used to explain this in a single term. In Hinduism it's Called as THATHWAMASI, which means "IT IS YOU" or "IT IS YOURSELF". WaTch it and learn whether the way I expressed and the movie's message is same or not. God bless you all...

I couldnt understand that message ! Anyway acting and direction is good.