Aadhi Bhagavan - A review

Aadhi Bhagavan is the 4th directorial venture of acclaimed director Ameer Sultan after Moounam Pesiyathey, Raam and Paruthiveeran. In just 4 films Ameer has chalked up an image for himself.

No one can certainly forget Paruthiveeran which brought nativity of Madurai to our living room. The characters were chosen and crafted to perfection.

After the setting such standards it is easy to understand the hype and expectations one would have going into the cinema halls. How did it fare?

Before we get into the actual review let’s see who’s who and the team behind the movie. Jaya Ravi and Neetu Chandra play the leads. The movie was produced by one Anbu Films and features music composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. Cinematography is by R. B. Gurudev and K. Devaraj and editing by Ram Sudharsan. The film took a whopping 3 years for completion

First things first. Ravi appears in dual role. Aadhi and Bhagavan. Aadhi is a gangster in Bangkok, living a luxurious life is separated from family for having earned the wrath of his mother for choosing a career she is not happy with. And enters Neetu Chandra as his lady love where he finds comfort and solace. Just as he proposes for marriage, Neetu Chandra says that he needs to go to Mumbai to meet her father and gets his permission. The first half was moving around aimlessly and you start to wonder whether this is another story of a don correcting his ways and blend into society with his love of life.

But then the real story starts to unfold when the second role of Ravi is introduced as Bhagavan, who is a local don in Mumbai, wanted dead or alive by the police  after murdering brother of a cabinet minister.

The story is escalated when it was revealed at the end of first half that Neethu Chandra is actually companion of Bhagavan.  To save Bhagavan from Mumbai police, Neetu Chandra, drafts a plan to lure Aadhi into a trap to create a case of mistaken identity. Did Neetu Chandra managed to score her plan or whether Aadhi escaped forms the rest of story.

There was never a dull moment in the second half. The story unfolds quickly and scenes were racy at the same time clear. We can easily understand why a particular character is acting in a particular way. No scenes were wasted.

Adhi was not convincing as a gangster. He looked like a romantic hero. His performance as a gangster is pretty soft.  However, Bhagavan as a twisted don was convincing. Ravi did a commendable performance. Particularly in carrying the role of Bhagavan who is an effeminate male. The effort he took to portray the body language was perfect. Neetu Chandra was a revelation. She is by far the most original “bond girl” I have seen in Tamil movies. She emotes well and scores a perfect 10 in action scenes. She was indeed the better performer than Ravi.

The Camera works is awesome. Bangkok night scenes were canned superbly. Angles were carefully chosen and scenes were shown from the best angle. Particularly few scenes like Ravi and Neetu embracing, Bhagavan waiting in the room of the politician and of course the chase sequence towards the climax. The movement of the scenes was refreshing.

Music wise, its definitely not yuvan’s best. The theme music was engaging. The romantic numbers should be done away with. The agadam bagadam slowed down the pace a bit. Overall the music was quite disappointing.

One thing which paused me a bit was the way Aadhi knowingly avoided to strike the vital parts of Bhagavan to finish him off after earlier indicating his clear intention to do so. Anyhow, the director has hinted on a sequel towards the end. It would be interesting to see if it really materializes.

Overall, the movie is a entraining watch. I enjoyed this one better than Viswaroopam. I would recommend for a watch.