Aravaan, a partial adaptation of S.Venkatesan’s award winning novel ‘Kaaval Kottam’ and directed by an award winning director, Vasanthablan, had all the essential ingredients for a period action adventure movie, but only  managed to fall hard and flat, much to our disappointment. What exactly went wrong in the proceedings? Let’s ponder….

Set in 18^th century South Tamil Nadu, Aravaan delves into the lives and times of the clan who indulged in theft and burglary for their living. The clan is led by Komboothi (Pasupathy), who with the help of his notorious bunch of thieves and aptly aided by his sister Chimmiti (Archana Kavi Jose) goes about with his business. Varipuli (Aadhi), who is also an experienced thief, manages to impress Komboothi with his skills in burglary and as a result joins the clan. After a while, various circumstances reveal Varipuli’s shadowy past and the real reason for his transformation into a thief from being a frontline guard for his tribe. All these lead to a lame climax which left the story nowhere near the expectations.

Usually period movies would be based on certain noteworthy rulers or leaders. But Aravaan managed to narrate the story of the sons of our soil whom we have not known, but to an extent can relate to. Even though, it was an adaptation from the novel, it was well researched and a good job was done on the detailing. The director had pulled off a casting coup of sort, though certain actors were wasted and could have easily been stripped off.

There were very few silver linings in the movie. Apart from those, the screenplay was very ordinary and lulls the audiences to sleep, especially the first half. The inherent slowness dampened many of the scenes which were meant to create an impact. Graphics used during crucial action sequences like Aadhi saving Pasupathy on a bull was tacky and seemed impersonated.

Aadhi with his brawny and rustic outlook looked impressive only in terms of his physique, while his characterization took a beating due to a flawed screenplay.

Pasupathy has lived his character as Komboothi and looked impressive with a great screen presence, pouring in an amalgam of emotions in right proportions.

Dhansika as Aadhi’s love interest was dusky and looked convincing as the tribal girl, but had a very polished accent which hardly gelled with the character she portrayed. Her chemistry with Aadhi worked to an extent, though there was very little time to establish it.

Archana Kavi Jose, another tribal girl as Chimmiti was a flash in the pan and hardly had anything to do in the latter half.

Bharath played the all-important cameo role and sported an exaggerated and weird outfit which seemed to belong to the ancient tribal dynasties.

Kabir Bedi as the villainous king, sleep walked in the few scenes which he was cast.

Others including Anjali (also in a cameo), Shwetha Menon, Shruti Prakash, Thirumurugan, Karikalan and Singampuli were aptly cast and performed decently.

Technically the movie draws some praise, especially the cinematography.

Cinematography by Sidharth captured the essence of the time zone with authenticity and the black and white portrayals at times gave the movie a classy look.

Editing was the weakest department as it hampered the pace of the proceedings.

Singer Karthik has debuted as the music director and has managed to make a mark only with the ‘Nila Nila’ melody number. Other numbers just served the cause and managed to pass muster.