Coming Soon - Sarvam

After a few weeks without any films that really excited us, this Friday will see a high-profile one hit screens. Directed by Vishnuvardhan and bringing together Arya and Trisha, Sarvam has quite a few things going for it.

While so many directors shine with their debut film only to disappoint with their next - and subsequent - outings, Vishnuvardhan belongs to the select breed of directors who didn't make much of a mark in their first film but then went on to impress us with their other films. His first film Kurumbu hid its core story of friendship and love in a crude and vulgar package and wasn't that different from the other movies released around the same time, that incorporated glamor and vulgarity under the guise of showcasing reality. But his sophomore film Arindhum Ariyaamalum was a pleasant surprise. Its fresh storyline managed to surprise us and Vishnuvardhan smoothly and confidently handled the shift in tone that the twist led to. He again raised the bar with Pattiyal, a stylish yet realistic look at the Chennai underworld. His next film was the remake of Rajni's Billa with Ajith in the lead. Though the dumbing down of the original came as a disappointment, the film had a sense of style that, though it felt overdone, is rarely seen in Tamil cinema.

Apart from the improvement in quality, the other aspect that is obvious from Vishnuvardhan's list of films is his versatility - again, not a quality found in too many Tamil cinema directors. Kurumbu could charitably be called a youthful romantic comedy and then he changed tracks completely. While his next 3 movies all revolved around dadas and rowdies, they were not exactly similar either. While Arindhum Ariyaamalum could be slotted in the action-comedy genre, Pattiyal was stark and uncompromising in its depiction of the seedier side of Chennai and Billa was a stylish update of an yesteryear blockbuster. Sarvam was initially said to be a romantic film but its trailer(atleast the second half) points to it being more than that.

Sarvam must've been a nice break for Arya after the intense and exhausting work in Naan KadavuL. Inspite of being seen as a pin-up boy after his debut, the actor has not been stereotyped and has shown a willingness to take on a variety of roles. Sarvam will see him once again play a loverboy, a role he's obviously well-suited for. Trisha had quite a few blockbusters not too long ago but she's not had a good run lately with both her films in 2008, Abhiyum Naanum and Kuruvi, not faring well. She's apparently doing well in Telugu but will be looking for Sarvam to become a hit to improve her standing in Tamil too. Telugu actor JD Chakravarthy, Malayalam actor Indrajeeth(Prithviraj's brother) and a kid Rohan round out the cast of the film, which is about events in the lives of the characters played by these 5 actors.

Yuvan has shared a good rapport with Vishnuvardhan and has once again delivered one of his better albums in recent times. I wrote about the soundtrack here and my thoughts haven't changed much. Sila Iravugal..., inspite of Yuvan's singing, is still one of my favorites from all recent albums while Adadaa Vaa...(for its catchy flute interludes) and Suttaa Suriyanai...(for its strong beats) are still present on my playlist. Vishnuvardhan has a good eye for picturizing song sequences and the few-second clips of the song sequences seem to reinforce that. The colorful, chaotic setting for Suttaa Suriyanai... and the noir-ish costumes and settings for Adadaa Vaa... look fabulous. They've made me real eager to see how Sila Iravugal... turns out.

After a very lackluster first quarter, Tamil cinema has begun to look up with commercial blockbusters like Ayan and critical favorites like Pasanga. Let's hope Sarvam continues the positive trend this weekend...

The trailer