Thursday, December 08, 2005

Coming Soon - Aaru

[Pic Courtesy Sify]

For me, the most surprising thing about Aaru is how little buzz seems to be surrounding the film. We have a popular actor who is coming off the biggest hit in his career; a heroine who is the top heroine in the field right now; a director who gave a huge blockbuster hit just 2 years ago and hasn't really given any duds since then; a producer who, as a director, has proved that he knows the pulse of the viewers; and the ever-popular rowdy subject that allows one to squeeze in all the necessary commercial ingredients. Inspite of all these, the movie somehow seems rather low-key even on the eve of its release tomorrow. Not that that is going to affect my decision to see it this weekend :-)

Surya's Ghajini has proved to be a blockbuster in both Tamil and Telugu and the actor is at the peak of his career. He has had a string of roles that have earned him a good name, whatever be the movies' box-office fate, and he hasn't made a wrong move for quite a while now. On the other hand, heroine Trisha has been missing from Kodambakkam for a while now(her last movie was Tiruppaachi). She didn't have much competition but with Asin becoming a contender for the top spot with a single movie, Trisha needs to make sure she isn't forgotten completely. The two are coming together once again after Mounam Pesiyadhe, which was arguably the first movie in Surya's current success streak. Its a good pairing that is easy on the eyes.

But the movie's subject does give rise to some doubts. Surya is apparently playing a Chennai rowdy, Aarumugam, and the last time he did a similar role in Sree, the results weren't pleasant. But then again, Aaru is being helmed by Hari who directed the excellent Thamizh on the same subject. And while Kovil and Ayyaa didn't exactly set the box-office on fire, Saamy's huge success makes sure he can't be written off just yet. So I have my fingers crossed. Another plus point is that Aaru is produced by Saran, who has had many a box-office hit to his name. I'm sure he will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Shankar, who has tasted success as a producer too.

Aaru's disappointing soundtrack is probably a big reason for the low buzz. Kanda Naal Mudhal's soundtrack proved that a good soundtrack can raise viewers' expectations for a low-profile movie but Devi Sriprasad's numbers here are definitely not hit material. So its upto Hari now to make them popular with good picturization.

The film is slated to have a good opening inspite of the rains and the expected cyclone (Ooru aaraa irukku but Aaru paakka ooru ready :-). Lets hope Aaru hits a sixer at the box-office...

26 Comments:

At 7:56 PM, Blogger srivat said...

Balaji,
I too agree.In fact I had to drive to the a theatre nearby my house to confirm if the movie is releasing there.Usually there will be posters stuck on the walls here with the release date 'Varugitathu Ungal Vettri Theatre'il - kind of posters.Though the trailers are shown in TV's and theatres not sure why its not much publicised.Anyways as you said that wont stop me from watching it this weekend.

 
At 9:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, Balaji.. haven't you been to sify.com at all? Or how about the huge uproar from Vijay and company about replacing Sivakasi with Aaru in theaters to open up larger theates for the new release or tamilcinema.com recently? Also, Indiaglitz has been pounding off to glory about "Aaru" as well!.. Sun TV short and sweet promos have started running as well..

Given the huge winter storm, I don't think films are really on people's minds (except for those who aren't affected by the rains!).. I am sure most of these producers, including Saran, are saving up their money until after the release of the film.. After all, the advance booking for the film has been great even without all the publicity

You forgot one very important thing about "Aaru" in your posting.. For all practical purposes, all three films, "Ayya," "Kovil" and "Arul" were flops for Hari.. None of the three films have really stood to save Hari's face.. It's do-or-die time for him.. and the fact that the trailer for the film isn't terribly interesting or gripping (if anything is low-key, it has to be this trailer.. it looks a little tired, been-there-done-that).

Personally, I have this strange feeling that "Aaru" is going to be "fanooshed" away at the box office.. and "Thavamaai" will rule the roost until Pongal.. I have little or no hope for Hari this time. Looking at it purely based on the trailer, I'm not confident that "Aaru" will do well (unless Surya's charm wins over the film!).. If a "Mayaavi" can happen in the midst of a "Pithamagan," "Perazhagan" and "Ghajini".. then an "Aaru" can also happen to Surya..

We'll really have to wait and see if Surya has made the right call with this movie!.. Then again, like you, that's not going to stop me from watching the film! :-)

 
At 12:28 AM, Blogger Bart said...

Balaji, though you are not conducting a poll here, I thought I will leave my predictions just to comeback and check at a later point :). Thanx for the space ;)
Aaru will be 'lukewarm' for the critics and should be 'semi-hot' for the trade (in the likes of 'Thotti Jaya' which made small profits)..

 
At 5:14 AM, Blogger மு.கார்த்திகேயன் said...

It's true that Aaru replaces sivakasi in 35 theatres, where vijay asking them to retain for atleast 50 days..He may thought of running film for 200 days like he did for Sachien..sariyana keliKooththu..

As sandhya said, TT will take good start after the reviews of Ananda Vikatan and Kumudam..
AV gave 53 out of 100 and kumudam ranked 4.7 out of 5..
In 2005, TT only got this high..Hope its the highest rank given by AV after Nayagan and Mahanidhi (60/100)

Songs are backbone for commercial movies and that was not catchy..

Lets see the box-office details

 
At 6:03 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

dun count AV marks as a measure for success for a film at the box office karthikeyan . AV gave 60/100 for hey ram and the film was a biggggggggggggg bombbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb at the box office . nowadays none wants a film to run for 200 days . if a film runs for 30-40 days with steady business then the film will surely become a good grosser for the producer n distributors .

thts wat sivakasi did n thts wat aaru is goin to do.
TT is very slow n youngsters dun like the film too much . for a film of such slow speed its tedious to sit n watch the film for 3.5 hours . oopph. it may be a critically acclaimed film but not so commercially .

bye

 
At 7:24 AM, Blogger Kaps said...

aaru is a non-starter from the word go. IMO it will not find a favour with the audience.

 
At 7:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well if aaru will replace Sivakasi then I am all for it. Its high time the distributors/producers put a stop to the nonsensical demands of Vijay and his dad who have been artificially creating success stories for some of their stupid films.
Vijay is lucky to have such patronage, which is what I had mentioned long time back to Balaji.

 
At 8:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

is vijay artificially creatin success stories for his films ????????? man u hv to look at the box office collections and then speak whether its artificial or not .

 
At 8:16 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

read this article abt vijay

http://www.behindwoods.com/features/Topten/top10Actors/tamil-cinema-topten-actor-1.html

 
At 8:27 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Uh-oh, this movie seems to be a rehash of previous movies and Trisha looks like she is going to play (yet again) a schoolgirl role in this movie. Looking forward to the next Manirathnam movie (sigh)!

 
At 9:16 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

the movie is a blatant mix of thirupachi and tamizh . both the stories combined u gt aaru.

 
At 9:27 AM, Blogger Raju said...

Surya, with his experience, has to raise this movie. With 'Totti Jaya' a success, if this movie clicks, will we see a spat of rowdy-as-hero movies again? I sincerely wish not..

 
At 11:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Couldn't help smiling.. Balaji, just as you have started the buzz on "Aaru," on your blog, look what Indiaglitz is up to. Looks like "Aaru" is hitting a sixer as we speak!..

 
At 3:38 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

srivat, saran's a new producer. maybe he's not yet learned how to do the marketing and pr!

sandya, actually i completely forgot about 'arul'. thot 'ayya' was an average grosser at the BO. i havent had a chance to c the trailer yet. looks like i havent missed much :)

zero, we might well be surprised. as long as the screenplay holds our interest, i think any hero can take on the "rowdy hero bashing villains" role :)

bart, i kinda think that too...

karthik, but the target audience is different for 'tt' and 'aaru'. so lets hope they both do well :)

kaps, enna sir ivlo downbeat predictions? surya mela edhavadhu kovama? :)

gopi, not just a schoolgirl but a rich schoolgirl in love with a poor rowdy!

raju, u can count on that considering tamil directors' history of repeating success stories :)

 
At 4:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

am glad someone remembers Thamizh :) it was released around the same time as the crass commercial "classic" Gemini...and didnt do nearly as well, though it was much better...Hari showed some real promise...in fact, I liked thamizh more than i liked Saami...
Simran looked so cute in glasses!
Nasser kalakkal performance...
Prashanth turned in a surprisingly strong performance...

 
At 5:35 PM, Blogger narayanan said...

This movie would run(depending on the number of Surya and Trisha fans) for star value in an A centre or any overseas centre, no matter how aruvai the movie is. The stills look like the movie 'Sri' which big time bombed box office.

If it is that boring, it would die down a week after release and Kanda Naal Mudhal/Thavamai Thavamirundhu would gain an upper hand. It already looks like Kanda Naal Mudhal is topping the charts.

-narayanan

 
At 6:02 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

ram, i remember 'thamizh' very well. apart from what u listed, the comedy betn urvasi and vadivelu was hilarious too...

narayanan, it would probably have a good opening for those reasons. adhuku mela it needs to be good to run. oh well... i'll know in a few hrs :)

 
At 9:19 PM, Blogger The Talkative Man said...

Hi bb,
Am renting Idhaya Thamarai from Netflix this weekend, supposedly a good movie. Why dont you review more 75-95 movies on your geocities site? You would definitely enjoy reviewing movies like Azhiyaadha Kolangal rather than giving deserving 0.5s and 1s to a bunch of recent duds.

PS: Why not put a general comment box on the side so we dont have to spoil the specific commentbox like this?

 
At 10:33 PM, Blogger Vidya said...

Seriyaana thatuvam.. "Ooru aaraa irukku....".

Today was Thathuvam day for me.. I got a hugh forward full of it and I visit your blog to find another.. perhaps I shud put all of them up in my blog for others to enjoy it :D

n e ways judging by the trailor and the story, it looks like yet another masala movie.. waiting for your review ;D

 
At 12:58 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Balaji..

I'm going to say "Give me two aspirins and don't wake me up in the morning!".. (because there is no guarantee that my headache would have gone away!)..

KadavuLe, thaangalaidaa...

I saw you at the theater, but couldn't get 6 minutes to tell you my misery over this film.. Anyways, the only person who seems to have worked overtime carrying the burden of the entire movie on his brittle shoulders: Surya.. The fantastic opening is all 6 is gonna get.. Like "Maja" was for Vikram, Surya will walk out of this, smelling like roses too!..

But Surya.. listen.. (free advice!) stay away from Hari!..

 
At 9:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

god save me after watching thsi film.................

 
At 12:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sandya,

Don't even compare Majaa with this crap... Majaa was really funny and classier... Aaru could have renamed Aru... Would have suited the movie in more than one ways... With this movie Hari goes into my blacklist category alongwith other famed characters like Vijaykanth, Chimbu, Ramarajan, Ramanarayan etc...

Hari sucks bigtime... It's a treat to watch (for a sadomasochist) how he assassinates any semblance of character development... Where is the need for Trisha, Vadivelu, Delhi Ganesh or even Surya in this movie... There was nothing in this movie for any of them...

Surya should learn how to select his directors...

Krish

 
At 1:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mr. Krishna :-)...

I was referring to Maja and Aaru from the box office point of view (not a compare and contrast on the quality of the films!). I don't think anybody will dispute that "Maaja" is a far far superior film in presentation and quality..

Ahem, I don't think even I would do the mistake of comparing the films in terms of quality! ;-)

 
At 1:31 PM, Blogger narayanan said...

Sandya, you made my day :) my saabam worked :D

-narayanan

 
At 11:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

One of the worst movies I saw in the past few months...went to imc6 san jose for the 8 p.m. show....kept looking at the watch every 5 minutes...when it was 10.30p.m., breathed a sigh of relief thinking that the movies is going to end v.soon but suddenly realised that 'aaru' had to kill 2 more villians...boooooom! I got up and left...This movie has alllllllll the villians from allllll the tamil movies in the recent past....god save everyone who watches it!

 
At 2:52 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

skanda, your punishment for hari sounds very mean but i have to admit that its spot on. and it'll be a lesson for anyone who dares make such films in future.

gayatri

 

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