It has taken seven long years for director R Ravikumar’s dream to reach the silver screens, and I have to admit that his hard work and the team’s efforts to deliver a visual feast have truly paid off. It is one of the rarest Tamil films to do complete justice in translating the ambitious vision on paper to the screen.
Let us talk about the most striking aspect of the film: The Tropes. The film doesn’t just stick to English films in this area; it liberally borrows from Tamil too. Starting from killing off black people in the opening scene to making a ‘science teacher’ heroine deliver moral science lessons to motivate the hero, the film ticks off a lot of checkboxes across film industries. But, thankfully these hiccups are not deal-breakers as the visuals of Ayalaan and its witty ideas give us enough to munch on and be extra kind with the blemishes. Ravikumar also does effective damage control for his dated portrayals by employing liberal doses of sarcasm and self-awareness. It seems as if he dutifully made a list of dated cliches that annoy us and wrote dialogues to counter them on screen. The director’s idea of taking a dig at his work creates a lot of difference as they make us laugh along with the film rather than laughing at it.
I also quite liked how Ravikumar subtly registers his socio-political stand in the form of easter eggs in the tale. It’s hard not to think of parallels when Sivakarthikeyan’s Tamizh takes on a villain named Aaryan. Oh, he also packs enough references for SK fans to go gaga. When Tamizh is asked to recreate the Orion constellation, he thinks for a second and goes for the iconic Maan Karate pose. Sivakarthikeyan, who has shouldered Ayalaan from the day of its inception till the release, lets the VFX and visuals do the heavy lifting. It is a surprise that he delivers a barely functional performance in his most-hyped film to date. Though he feels effortless in his strong comical zone, his acting feels wanting in the emotional parts. Since the film succeeds in making us like the alien, the tried-and-tested emotional formula of projecting the character as an empath and do-gooder falls into place without much hassle. Consequently, we aren’t bothered much about the cardboard villain or his sidekicks. Despite sticking to the familiar beats none of the sequences consumes a minute longer than what is required. However, the usually dependable Rahman lets the film down with his songs and background score.
As I stepped out of Ayalaan, I was reminded of a stanza from “Vera Level Sago” which goes, “Endha Singam Siraga Ketkudhu? Endha Parava Neendha Thudikudhu? Kedacha Parisa Rasika Palagidu. Vera Level Kaathiruku Unaku!” Is it just me or is it Ravikumar cryptically stating, “It is okay for a film to stick to the basics. But if we celebrate this whole-hearted attempt of his enough, we are in for a bigger treat in the sequel!” Well, that’s a question only Ravikumar or Ayalaan 2 can answer!
Director: R Ravikumar
Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Rakul Preet Singh, Sharad Kelkar, Siddharth Isha Kopikkar
Rating: 3.5/5
