A Aa

Movies like Autograph may have legitimized directors appearing before the camera too instead of simply staying behind it. But A Aa provides the strongest case yet for directors NOT turning into actors. S.J.Suryah before the camera is the biggest(albeit not the only) factor working against making his latest effort difficult to sit through.

Shiva(S.J.Suryah), an investigative reporter and his lover Madhu(Nila) live together. Madhu is unemployed and Shiva is always on the run, working double shifts, so that they can maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Wishing to lessen Shiva's workload, Madhu decides to start a restaurant along with her friend's brother. But Shiva fears that her daily proximity to her partner may lead to something between them and his suspicion leads to a rift between them. Now its upto their memories and thoughts of each other to reunite them.

Any review of A Aa is guaranteed to be spoiler-free since Suryah opens the movie with a monologue of what is essentially a synopsis of the entire movie. I'm not sure who Suryah thinks will be watching his movie but the narration seems way too condescending. A true case of dumbing down the audience. And from his grand declarations during the narration, Suryah truly seems to believe that he is God's gift to Tamil cinema.

Suryah undoubtedly has some good ideas in that mind of his. The brother lusting after his twin brother's wife in Vaali, lovers separated by their own egos in Kushi, a boy trapped in a grown man's mind in New - all these were new ideas. But the way he presents these ideas has unfortunately seen a decline in quality. In A Aa he gives form to the memories/thoughts of the hero and the heroine. It is an idea that is original, looks good on paper and there are a few scenes that point to how the concept could've been interestingly exploited. But the possibilities are hopelessly buried under heaps of over-acting and vulgarity.

Tamil cinema has seen the likes of Ramarajan and Kunal grace the screen. But I would go as far as saying that S.J.Surya in A Aa gives one of the most irritating performances ever by a leading man in Tamil cinema. He waves his arms more than an orchestra conductor, delivers every piece of dialog like he was talking to a deaf man and is more expressive than even Jyothika was in Kushi. He is never still and his body language makes him look like a puppet whose puppetmaster has gone crazy and is pulling his strings at random. It is clear that Nila wasn't chosen for her acting skills. But her inexpressive face and muted body language actually comes as a relief in this movie. Nambiar as the 'leader' of the thoughts(!) and Urvasi as a psychiatrist have cameos.

Suryah might have made himself and Nila live together purely for controversy but the fact does help make their separation believable. Their frequent fights and subsequent makeups help create the picture of an immature couple thrown together before they were ready for the burden of a life together. So the big fight seems believable when it happens.

Tamil cinema is really starved of new ideas with most directors having a "follow the herd" mentality. So Suryah's gimmick of giving form to the characters' thoughts got me interested. Unfortunately, it remains just that - a gimmick. Whats more irritating is that Suryah doesn't follow is own rules when he uses them either. So at one point, these 'forms' are actually able to blow hard enough to create a gust of wind that causes things to topple!. Eventually, their scenes end up looking like poor rip-offs of the scenes in Ghost. The amateurish execution(as when we see a group of 'thoughts' walking around) and cheesy graphics don't help either.

The glamor and double entendres worked in New because the movie was a sex comedy. But they are hopelessly out of place here. As Suryah talks with double entendres(or in many cases, moves his lips wordlessly thanks to the censors) in the middle of a romantic scene , the vulgarity seems heightened and only irritation sets in. What made Suryah proclaim that this movie is for family audiences, I have no idea.

The picturization of the song sequences is overdone too. The melodious Mayilirage... is completely ruined with lame graphics and unsuitable dance movements while its remix, Marangothiye..., physically hurts the eyes with its fast cuts and bright backgrounds. The choreography for the catchy Aararai Kodi... seems a little too chaotic and Suryah's steps, which I appreciated in New's Sakkara Inikkira..., seem forced and ineffective here. Varugiraai... is the only song that actually fits into the movie and its lyrics make a lot sense at the point where it appears.

I wish my memories about this movie would take a human form and leave me!