'Aachariyangal' (Tamil)
Director: Harshavardhan
Cast: Taman Kumar,Aishwarya, Reethu Mangal, Mahanadhi Shankar, Balaji Kannan, Ram
The premise of God responding to man’s plea and handing him over some powers has been dealt with in films like ‘Bruce Almighty’. This film too is based on that premise, and conveys the same moral.
But while most of them were comedies, this one is a darker film. Scripted, directed and produced by debutant Harshavardhan, the film delves into an unusual scenario not much touched upon in Tamil films.
The plot revolves around a youngster dissatisfied with the monotony of his life. He complains to the almighty in playful frustration, adding that he would love to foresee his future too. He gets both wishes granted, but with a catch to it.
It's an intriguing scenario, deftly narrated,the director focused in his storytelling. Debutant Taman performs with cool assurance the role of Kartik, a youngster who gets more than what he had bargained for.
An MBA graduate who had everthing going well for him, Kartik however was frustrated with the monotony of it. And then he sees his life spiralling through some thrilling experiences. His family goes through a financial crisis, and he has this brush with the underworld.
As he gets deeper into the slush of crime, Kartik searches for ways to extricate himself from the situation. His life couldn’t have been a more thrilling one. Kartik’s adventures however follow what we have seen in many underworld- sagas.
Its lazy plotting here, the director could have thought of some other happenings in his protagonists life.
But what Harshavardhan has managed to do,is to weave it cleverly into his premise. Its an intelligently executed finale,with Kartik back to square one.
Aishwarya as Kartik’s sensible cousin,and Reethu as the unpredictable Anjana, are adequate in their roles. But the show stealer is easily Mahanadi Shankar, most of the film’s entertainment value generated by him. The actor is hilarious as Guru the thug takes Kartik under his wings.
'Aachariyangal' is a fairly enagaging fare from a debutant maker, who has made an effort to strike a different chord.