Film: Arthanaari
Director: Sundara Elangovan
Cast: Ram Kumar, Arundhati, Nasser, Rajendran, Sudhakar, Sampathram.
It centers round a case, the investigation of which is done by two persons with contrasting attitudes. One is a woman cop who while tracking the complex network of the crime, finds her moves blocked by her own senior. And the other is her lover, who has a private agenda and follows his own unorthodox method to trace out the kingpin of the criminal elements.
The film’s opening scene however had given the impression that it would be a woman-centric one. Where, Arundhati playing the cop Sathya Priya does a Vijayshanthi, as she rescues a kidnapped girl. Skillfully warding off the attacks of the kidnappers and killing one, the actress is matter of fact and natural in her take on the role. And the scenes with her and the cops apprehending criminals are fairly realistically portrayed and effectively handled. But in the second half with the focus shifting to the hero, but the episodes related to him not effectively sketched, the film loses much of its momentum and interest.
After Sathya’s rescues the kidnapped girl, the film depicts the developing love affair between her and Karthik an engineer. Mildly amusing is the episode where Sathya takes Karthik to meet her parents. Debutant Ram Kumar has a pleasant screen presence and is adequate in the lighter moments. It’s in the more serious and emotional moments that one felt he could have been guided better.
Manickam a crusader for children’s rights and Karthik’s mentor (Nasser), is killed and the cops get into the act. With Sathya’s investigation making no headway, Karthik decides to do his own tracking of the case. Nasser fits in suitably as Manickam who is vocal against child labour. Manickam ran a Trust that rescued children from the clutches of unscrupulous middlemen and factory owners and provided them with education. There is a streak of realism in these episodes. A fine touch is the killing of a suspect on the highway by a child worker. But forcing in a seductive dream song right after the gruesome killing, with the cop in some sexy outfits, distracts one from the mood and feel. The scene of Sathya laying a honey trap for one of the suspects also seems contrived and unwarranted.
The screenplay meanders many times, losing track of the plot and the director his grip on the narration. It touches on multiple rackets like child trafficking, flesh trading, greedy pharmaceutical companies using humans as guinea pigs and so on. And in this melee of issues, the message gets diluted. A stepping stone for a debutant maker, the film could have been an exciting action-flick, if only there had been more clarity and focus in the screenplay and polish in its narrative style.