Coming Soon - Aegan

It's gonna be a Thala Deepavali this time! Ajith's Aegan is confirmed as a Diwali release and with Vaaranam Aayiram backing out, is getting pretty much a solo release, something rare for a Diwali release. With Ajith fresh from Billa's success, Nayanthara, the reigning queen of Tamil cinema and based on a Hindi blockbuster, the film has quite a few things going for it.

Aegan is Raju Sundaram's first film as director. He's found success as a dance director and not so much as an actor but neither of those can help us predict his performance as a director. He is following in the footsteps of his brother Prabhu Deva, who also went into direction with Pokkiri and he must be hoping that he tastes the same kind of success with this Ajith-starrer as his brother did with the Vijay-starrer. Raju Sundaram says that the film is "inspired by" Main Hoon Naa and another Chinese film. But we all know what that means. The films title(Aegan means protector and that's exactly what the hero of Main Hoon Naa was - he protected his country, his brother, his general's daughter, etc), the roles(the brother, the teacher, etc.), the trailer(Ajith is told that he is joining as a student) and the stills(Ajith and a bunch of students dancing in the school playground) all point to the movie being Main Hoon Naa's remake. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

On paper, the story of Main Hoon Naa seems regressive(boy ignores tomboyish girl; boy falls in love as soon as she becomes 'Indian'), sentimental(Shah Rukh bonding with mom and brother), over-the-top(the cycle rickshaw chase sequence), crude(one character spits when talking) and jingoistic(the India-Pakistan bhai bhai project). But Farah Khan managed to put these elements together and craft a film that was slick, fun and marvelously entertaining. It was one of those movies where everything worked - the performances were pitch-perfect, the romance was sweet, the sentiments were enjoyable, the action was energetic and the songs sequences were mounted well. The film was never too serious but at the same time, it never became so silly or comical that it descended into camp because Farah Khan walked the tightrope beautifully. It is this nebulous aspect that Raju Sundaram has to capture perfectly if he wants to make Aegan work. For a first-time director, thats a pretty tall order but then again, Main Hoon Naa was Farah Khan's first film too.

I think Aegan's the perfect vehicle for Ajith. The actor played the sweet, charming lover boy in several movies initially in his career but after Dheena happened, he turned into a masala hero with action getting the main focus. He seems to have given up on those movies but while the movies he has selected since then have been better, they haven't brought back the Ajith of old. The don in Billa, the young man seeing his dreams come crashing down in Kireedam, the man on a mission in Aazhwaar... all these movies saw him play some variation of a serious, brooding protagonist with enough reasons to stay that way. I can't remember the last time he looked like he was having fun appearing in a movie. The hero's role in Main Hoon Naa offers a good chance for him to enjoy himself again and at the same time, satisfy his fans. Hope it works out. Nayanthara teams up with him again after Billa and will get to romance him this time. Playing a teacher, she looks gorgeous in the stills and the trailer and make us wish we were back in school! Navdeep, who was in Arindhum Ariyaamalum and a couple of other movies, plays Ajith's brother. From the stills and trailer, it looks like Nasser plays a policeman and Haneefa plays one of the school teachers. Suhasini is listed in the credits and I guess she'll be playing Ajith's mom.

Ajith's career has had some wild swings so far. With Billa turning out to be the biggest hit in his career, I guess its on the upswing again. Let's hope Aegan becomes a hit and helps him continue his upward ride.