It’s been a long time since I’ve written a movie review. Avan Ivan, directed by Bala, starring Vishal, Arya and others, is a film where the maverick director ventures into a genre, less explored by him. Inexplicably, this film doesn’t live up to its hype. Set in the villages of Tamil Nadu, Vishal and Arya are stepbrothers, constantly bickering, cursing each other, shouting (and insulting their father, which is quite hilarious). They work for a king, whom, they affectionately (or otherwise) call ‘highness’ (I could make out the word only when the king took a group of foreigners for a trek. Until then, I didn’t understand what they said. It sounded like INS). Ok, let me get this straight -
The bulk of this movie concentrates on humor, which could be easily shunned if not for the performances of the actors. Bala’s films already have a taste of humor which led to the question of why a maverick director like him needed to make a full-length feature film which trusted on humor alone, while skipping the storyline. The movie had incredible scope for a great story, which is unfortunately, not built upon. There are quite a couple of occasions where a brief history between the court case against the ‘highness’ could have been explained. It is all too apparent to observe these potholes.
However, some of the positive scenarios included a wonderful display of acting by Vishal and Arya – though the latter didn’t have much scope, Arya tried to justify his role and must be critically applauded. Vishal’s acting, though flawed, seemed to capitalize on the scope and the platform laid by the story. Perhaps, Vishal must be taking on less-commercial films and must try to focus more on building his career by establishing himself as an actor who doesn’t give just commercial films, but also critically-acclaimed movies. And he’s teamed up with just the right person in this venture. Arya, as always, gave his best shot and lived upto the scope of acting offered by the role. If not for the subtle acting, the movie might not have justified the ticket’s price.
Bala, being one of the trend setters in Kollywood, is just 5 films old and has a long career ahead of him. It would be unfair to negatively criticize him in venturing into a genre not suited to him – rather, not explored by him. He has tried his hand at a new genre that would add variety to the otherwise dark films that he’s directed (it should also be noted that you don’t miss the presence of Bala in the film as the gripping last 30 minutes of the movie was typical Bala’s tale that ends with a twist in the tale). Bala, I’m sure, must have learnt a lot of things and took away a lot of points from this movie.
Despite numerous negative reviews, I’d say that Bala hasn’t refrained in a corner and avoided a good story altogether. It’s just that he’s failed to build up on the plot, which isn’t a big crime – come on, let a man make mistakes sometimes. One cannot argue that the movie isn’t spectacular in the visuals. His direction isn’t bad at all. Considering the number of occasions that he’s revived the careers of many actors like Vikram, Surya, Arya and now, Vishal, it’s best to give the director a break and let him think things over so that he continues to deliver the kind of movies that he does.
Yuvan Shankar Raja can be easily forgotten in this movie as his background music doesn’t live upto the expectations, atleast not for me. His father, the Maestro Ilayaraja, could have handled it better. Again, Yuvan Shankar Raja must have explored a lot from composing music set in the villages.
Overall, the film is interesting, but has failed to live up to its expectations. The actors have given a performance of their lifetimes. It is safe to say that Vishal’s career would take a turn. It’s a great learning experience for the others.
Verdict: Good performance let down by a loose storyline.
Rating: 65%
