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14 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :- Close to reality, close to heart, 15 November 2008 Author: Ram Anand from Malaysia
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Gautham's Vaaaranam Aayiram may not be a masterpiece in overall, but the very fact the film dishes out few of the most momentous scenes i have ever seen in cinema justifies this rating. The film may appear slow for some, especially those who are yet to experience the lost of a loved one, or those who are yet to fall in love. Vaaranam Aayiram is about the strength of love and memories, how important they are in your life, even if your loved ones depart. The film is in no way a remake of Forest Gump and was not even for a moment intended to be so. It is rather inspired by Gautham's real life events and observations. Some of the scenes in VA are truly momentous, send a chill down the spine for any romantics. I can't remember San Francisco being shown to be so beautiful in Hollywood movies even, especially when Meghna (Sameera Reddy) confesses her feelings for Surya (Junior Surya) at the backdrop of the bridge while he is playing with a toy helicopter. Masterstroke. The scene where Surya calls his parents and cries uncontrollably about Meghna's death is certainly one of the most moving scenes ever in Tamil cinema, i can almost feel the same pain that the character feels at that time. Gautham directs the movie superbly in parts and complacently in parts, but Surya is the order of the day, as his performance as both father and son keeps the movie going, even in the parts where Gautham obviously could have done better. As a doting grandfather unable to tell stories to his grandchild, as a cancer patient meeting his end days, as a young man who is head over heels in love, as a naughty college student, as a lover struggling to get over his lover's death, a young man who's life taken over by drugs, as a man searching for himself in the mountains, as the re-discovered man who saves an abducted child, as a major, and as a son who struggles to see his daddy's sufferings, Surya is a class act in this movie. Simran too is fantastic, and this might well be her comeback card. Sameera Reddy leaves an impact in your heart that she remains etched even after the character is killed, and even makes you long for her presence. Divya Spandana does a decent job, but doesn't overshadow the impact of Sameera's character, she basically underplays her character. This is something for the personal collection.
8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :- Vaaranam Aayiram- a very good attempt and deserves recognition...., 20 November 2008 Author: jayanth baskaran from India
'Vaaranam Aayiram' tells the story about the life journey of a son who is positively motivated by his father and how he goes through emotions like love,passion,success and failure and how he is driven to search for himself in this challenging world..... the movie seems to have lot of similarities with the Tom Hanks starring Hollywood movie 'Forrest Gump' which is definitely and obviously a better version of 'Vaaranam Aayiram'....but,it is definitely considered as a very good attempt from the viewpoint of Tamil cinema as the music and cinematography of the movie takes Tamil cinema to the next level.....Surya's performance in the dual role as both father and son is mind blowing as he has delivered a complete performance.....Gautham Menon's smart direction, Harris Jayaraj's superb songs and background scores,Rathnavelu's brilliant cinematography are giant pillars carrying the movie in their shoulders.....a great story about the relationship between a father and a son.....'Vaaranam Aayiram' could have been more of a classic if the makers could have avoided compromise in certain aspects of the movie.....
6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :- Good movie for Surya, 25 November 2008 Author: madhesh1988 from India
Now all the movies in Tamil is fully action oriented film and all of the actors are stuck with that one, this movie is for the persons who are tired watching those films. This is a visual treat for audience gave by Surya and Sameera Reddy. It is very sad to see Sameera Reddy dying at a blast and Surya's song after retuning to Chennai is mixture of both folk and western which is an audio and visual treat. Harris Jeyaraj has given his best in music, it is the tougher job for both cameraman and director to give the visuals as best as possible. But they did it very correctly. Especially 'Adiye Kolluthey' is getting a new and fresh look on San Francisco, no one showed both the city and Surya and sameera reddy as beautiful this. Hats off for Cinematographer Rathnavelu 'Ava Enna' song proves that Surya can dance good when he gets a good choreographer, and finally 'Nenjukkul' song is a pure visual treat. The story is more sentimental in most of the situations, I think no one can do the role better than Surya in this movie, but Divya can be given more chance to act, her presence made to less by the beauty and importance of role given to Sameera Reddy. The father and son relationship can be showed more deeply than this, because it has chosen a plot of romantic sentiment film. On the whole term this movie is best to watch Surya for his performance and Sammera Reddy for her beauty.
11 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :- Beautifully Filmed, well acted Tamil Cinema, 16 November 2008 Author: Shen from Canada
I have never reviewed a film on IMDb before, but Varnam Ayiurm deserves some special recognition. I was absolutely enthralled from beginning to end. Varanam Ayiurm is loosely based on Tom Hank's Forest Gump, as Surya travels the world and undertakes different adventures to find and secure his love. Of course his path is full of twists and turns that push him to his mental and physical extremes. This story is beautifully displayed through breathtaking cinematography. Each scene was shot with care and diligence which makes a modest budget film, look like a billion bucks. Glad to see that the money was well used instead of ravishing over gold necklaces and over-the-top song sequences like Sankar's Shivagi and Annyian. Surya's is at the top of his game with another riveting performance. He is definitely one of the best in the business! The one criticism I do have about this movie;this might sound weird, but I believe the movie was hampered in its feel and realism with the overuse of the English language. The English words drained passion from the dialogue, especially the "I made love to her...Daddy" line. What was supposed to be a very emotional moment almost made me laugh! Other than that, this movie is a 10/10 in my books and a definite must see to all movie goers!
5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :- Vaaranam Aayiram -- -Surya is in Big League....A worth watch..., 23 November 2008 Author: sajin k from Kerala
Vaaranam Aayiram--itz Surya all the way...He roxx to the core....What a versatility he gave to the different phases of his character... As a teenager, lover, loser, commando, aged man his performance is top class...His body language and voice modulation all are excellent...I can say..now he is in big league with the finest actors of our country...Coming to the film....itz an autobiographical one...so we cant blame the pace of the movie...Even though the narration is racy in first half. In second half there are lot of incidents...(transition from a loser to a good individual..) Surya-Sameera reddy love track is minty cool..n Surya-Divya track is also OK...Then the Delhi episode...IMO itz a refreshing idea frm Goutham..(To overcome the loss of tragic event in Hero's life..)Someone may not agree that...After that the army scenes...surya really looks like an army man...And the final dialogue from simran is also touching...Performancewise Surya...His career best performance till date....Next comes Simran...Matured performance ..Both Sameera and Divya are apt for the roles...No gimmicks in Cinematography and Editing...BGM and music is beautifully synchronised with the mood of the film....If you are looking for a masala entertainer, then stay away from here...Overall, itz a must watch ....
10 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :- excellent movie by Goutham !!!!!, 16 November 2008 Author: sharkyths from India
this movie to start with a pleasant,very lovable story where director played a awesome role in guiding Surya in 2 type of character.a father and a son..every scene in the movie is very good and sensible n touched my heart...a very gripping movie.to tell about songs all songs are A-class(superb).i went to movie without expectation,for me its a very good movie and for all kind of age.i recommend yo to watch if yo really want to enjoy the essence of life,Father son relationship.every scene in this movie really related my life. taught me something to carry on to the future. i have seen many movies and remembered many things but the impact this movie gave to me was uncompromisable screenplay was very good heroine played their role in a decent way.OVERALL 10/10
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :- A Substantial Movie with All the Right Elements, 31 December 2008 Author: arunna1990
This movie was well made with nice melodious songs. What I really like about this movie was that it showed how fathers are important as well. Most movies always talk about mother as the motivation and somehow portray the dad as military style attitude or just thrown in for show but this movie was all about a dad's motivation, a dad who was living and compassionate. As for the actors: They really created magic with this movie. Surya was amazing. He really dug into the characters' role equally. His expressions and flawless Hindi and Tamil made this movie very enjoyable as well as his dual role. His attitude kept changing so it held the audience's eyes. Sameera Reddy was also wonderful. Despite the limited screen time, she really made a strong impact. Simran was also great. It has been a long time since I have seen her and her presence made the movie pleasant. Divya Spandana was not bad at all. I felt that she was thrown in but there needed to be something to make the movie going. The songs were very nice and melodious. Although it was not very fast paced, the creative sounds made it worthwhile. Only negative thought: I really wished that there were subtitles so that we could understand what Hindi words were spoken. Overall, this movie had a little bit of everything: love, violence, adventure, music and it is a definite must watch.
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :- A Touching and Inspiring Film, 6 December 2008 Author: niralji from Malaysia
From the first scene to the very last bit, everything was well crafted in excellence. The real magic in this movie is definitely Surya's acting. At first I was wondering why is he casted again as a double role acting, he has done that several times like the one in Vel. However, I was amazed at his abilities in creating distinctive traits to each of these character; the father and son. You would find his fatherly acting is similar to the late Raghuvaran, another great actor. Despite being involved in two roles, he managed to create different personalities as he grew up as a child to adulthood. In short, you don't need to create 10 characters (rings the bell) to portray your talents in acting, the important things is to be the role itself and how the audiences are impacted.The songs are superb. Plainly one of Harris Jeyaraj's classics after Minnale. It is a disappointment that Gautham and Harris have ended their ties, as their duo seem to come up with masterpieces. Not forgetting cinematography, you don't get much of boring static shots; it's either dramatic, or simply keeps you wanting to know more about the next scene.Though a little draggy ( the flaw ) , overall this a Tamil movie you shouldn't miss. Every single character has brought out their role well, Simran as Surya's mum played her character too neatly and well, leaving you praising her performance at the end of the movie.After watching this movie, it won't really leave you for a few days most a week. That much impact.Watch it, you may find the usual Tamil movie clichés, but it will leave you satisfied as you step out the theater or living room.
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :- An untold story: Father Son Relationship, 19 November 2008 Author: giridhar-c from India
Vaaranam Aayiram is a movie with can relate with every audience. At least that was what promised by the marketing team. But I refuse to agree with that tag-line. It's not a very practical movie but it deals with some practical decisions one takes at any given stage of life. I have not seen any (Indian) father to let go his son's hand to do some crazy stuff. Neither have I seen a family in which everyone takes anything, from demise to remorse, lightly. It could be an ideal one, but it would take generations to nurture such nucleus family which is comprised of only 4 people and never care about the society.Krishnan (Surya) is a just-another-guy kind of person who lures Malini(Simran) with his utter craziness. He sweeps her off her feet and they fall in love. They are gifted with Surya (Surya) and Shreya(an Allakai). Surya adores his father like any other child and his father is his hero…again like any other father. At every stage of his life Surya is fueled with inspiration by his father. Surya falls in love with Megna (Sameera Reddy) head over heels. Determined to win her heart, he follows her trail to Berkely University in US. Enchanted by Surya's crazy love (like father like son), she falls for him. She falls victim for not only Surya's love, but also for a terror strike and expires her call sheet. Broken Surya resorts to drugs. Priya (Divya) comes into his life. The rest of the movie is about how he picks up his life and puts the pieces back and moves on to lead a happy and successful life. "No matter what happens, Life has to move on…" advices the father Surya.The movie is Surya Sivakumar all the way. Throat cancer affected father Surya, 60's college student Surya, teen age Surya, Sameera stalker Surya, road side detective Surya, Major K Surya, family man Surya and 6 pack Surya have all been packaged as one super 3 hour deal called "Vaaranam Aayiram". He has discovered the actor in him. He has exceeded his performance as Anbuselvan IPS in Kaakka Kaakka. I can't help comparing the Neruku Naer Surya with Vaaranam Aayiram Surya. He has improved in all departments of the actor business namely: Body, body language, dance skills, stunts, dedication, flexibility, expressions, adaptability and learning ability. But why has he spared the shirt and bared the body in many possible scenes. Just because money has been spent on steroids and personal trainers, he appears in bare body in disconnecting shots.Simran Bagga, has faced the arc lights without make-up I guess. Though her 60's costume and hairstyle doesn't fit her into the teenage figure, later in the movie, she fit in perfectly as housewife with ease. Her expressions were of a corpse and her acting talents (which never existed) continues to be lost. Simran sans glamour is freaking nightmare to watch: reality check.Sameera Reddy is super sweet and super hot. She is pleasant to watch in the screen. She hasn't got much to do in the acting department. But she serves the best as the eye-candy. Divya Spandana has not been offered a meaty role. But she has done neat job as a next door girl and a suited sweet housewife.Harris Jeyaraj's songs are not not only pleasing to ears; they have also been picturized and choreographed exceptionally well. I loved the song "Ava yenna…Anjalai…" I loved the part where Surya dances to forget his lost-lady love simultaneously portraying his inability to control his tears and pain.Most reviews claim the movie to be a drag, post-intermission. I would say its a drag all the way. Just because its a Gautam movie, he has forcefully elaborated a kidnap sequence. And ya, also his special cameo appearance as the Military Informer is a forced entry. Any forced entry would give artificial makeover to practical storyline.I don't think its an extra-ordinary story, but its an untold story. Every person does consider their father as superheroes at two stages. Stage one lasts from kindergarten to Teenage. Stage two is after the demise of the father figure. Between these two stages, most people consider the father to be an egoistic maniac kindergarten cop who duals as the only free ATM (Any time Money Machine). I am not surprised to hear that Gautam made this movie only after he came to stage 2. Its only then he also changed his name as Gautam Vasudev Menon. Earlier it was just Gautam Menon, sans Vasudev even as initials. I would call him a hypocrite. If he had adored his father, he must have expressed his love while he was alive which many of us (including me) never do.And finally why the name "Vaaranam Aayiram"? Tax purpose? Towards the end, Simran narrates the line from Aandal Thirupaavai, to do justice for the title. But the complex tamil named, combined with Surya-Gautam combo have made headlines and it has lived up to its hype.
11 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :- Gowtham Menon & Surya go to the next level !, 15 November 2008 Author: Rajesh Giriraajan from India
What a film ! Went to see this flick today morning at 8:30 @ Abirami - Chennai and was drawn in to it from the first scene ! What a film !! WOW! Gowtham Vasudev Menon had certainly gone to the next level. Every shot, every scene is like a wonderfully carved out statue or a beautifully written poem. This is how the incidents will unfold in a normal family. There is absolutely NO exaggeration whatsoever and it has a lot for the ordinary masala genre (Vijay, Ajith, perarasu, Hari sort of guys) to learn. Guys - this is the new age Tamil film, for the international world.The direction is flawless. The screenplay is clever. The dialogs are natural and short. For the first time, I noticed (rather, heard) Harris Jeyaraj doing a commendable job at the background score. Usually, he tends to be jarring, but here, he has subtly underplayed. Especially, the 'anal mele' whistle which comes mostly during the last 45 minutes or something. Well done Harris! Simran - has given a good performance. Samira reddy - Surprise ! She acts well! All credit goes to Gowtham menon. Divya Spandana too, has rendered a nice performance. Well, guys - U've guessed it rite. Whatever I point out in this movie tend to be great! Surya ! Dude - you've certainly matured to be a fantastic actor. I don't like to compare Surya with Kamal or anyone, but he is spontaneous. Be it the school kid, or the middle aged father, or the young son, or the drunkard, or the military officer or the old ailing father - he is juz marvelous! I was amazed when he came out as a school kid in this movie. Well, how many guyz can do it, that too, he and Vijay are of the same age! Imagine any other actor doing the school boy role . . . People would've smacked him ! I'm giving ten out of ten for this great film - both hands raised! I'm gonna see it again shortly :) . . To summarize, this is one of the great films I have seen this year! Hats off to Gowtham Menon for making Vaaranam Aayiram - his best so far (according to me)!
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