Multiple Personality Disorder(MPD) has been tackled umpteen times on the silverscreen. The ones that I have recently viewed are National Award winning Shobhana in ’’Manichithrathazhu’’, Ajay Devgan in ’’Deewangee’’, Johnny Depp in ’’Secret Window’’, Bipasha Basu in ’’Madhoshi’’, Jyothika in ’’Chandramukhi’’, Parthiban in ’’Kudaikkul Mazhai, Urmila in ’’Bhoot’’, (initially she behaves that way until the spirit possesses her)...(arrr!! I can’t think.. are there
anymore?????)
The main protaganist in all these movies have done remarkable job of bringing the other character to the fore and have done ample justice to the character. Here comes Shankar’s ’’ANNIYAN’’ produced by Oscar Films which takes you into the same territory but instead of one, there are 2 other characters in the same person. National Award winning actor Vikram is the protagonist here and he just bowls you over with his electrifying performance. More to follow. But before that, let me introduce you to the cast and crew of the movie. After all, 30 crores is a big budget and I should do justice to my review.
The Cast
Ambi aka Ramanujam .............. National Award winner Vikram
Nandini .............. Sadha
Parthasarathy .............. Nedumudi Venu
Prabhakar .............. Prakashraj
Nasser
Vivek
Special Appearance by Yana Gupta and many more....
The Crew
Producer ............. Oscar V. Ravichandran
Co-Producer ......... D.Ramesh Babu
Story, Screenplay, Direction ........ Shankar
Music .......... Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography ......... S.Ravivarman / Manikandan
Dialogues ............ Sujatha
Editing .............. V.T.Vijayan
Art .................. Sabu Cyril
Action ............... Peter Hein
Choreography ......... Raju Sundaram, Kalyan, Ahmed Khan
The Story
Anniyan is a rehash of Gentleman and Indian and there are no qualms about it. It is an old wine packed neatly in a new bottle. Comparisons are inevitable and mainly because the heroes in all the films take justice in their hands and fight against the corrupted society and banish them. But in some way or the other, Director Shankar has come up with a different thinking that makes it somewhat different than his previous blockbusters. More about that in the latter part. Ambi (Vikram) is an Brahmin Iyengar, who is a perfectionist. He is more concerned about the ’’rules’’ of the law because he is a lawyer by profession. Not only that, he wants everthing to be orderly and wants everybody to be perfect. He is called ’’Rules’’ Ramanujam by people and there are a string of incidents which makes the viewer understand as to how perfect he is! Nandini(Sadha) is a medical college student and the love-interest of Ambi. But he is coy, and doesn’t have the so-called guts to proclaim his love for her. One day, Ambi encounters a wounded person on the road and tries to save the person’s life, but in vain. Nobody comes to his rescue and atlast the person dies and the doctor tells him that he could have saved the person’s life if he had come half an hour earlier. After hearing this Ambi gets demoralized. He enters a website anniyan.com(he gets a postcard about this website similar to the forwarded mails that we get in yahoo asking to forward to 10 or more people) and there he tries to post his problems about the society and the wrong-doers. A person named ANNIYAN enters on screen, and thereafter we can see a string of murders happening on the screen and there is a note behind every murder. Prabhakar and Vivek are in the crime branch and they are on track to nab the culprit. There is another character called REMO who wooes Nandhini and the latter falls madly in love with the former.
How the split personalities are handled and how the movie ends is told in a riveting climax. The message that shankar wants to drive home is ’’EVERY CITIZEN SHOULD DO THEIR OWN DUTIES TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITIES’’ and he does succeed in conveying this message with a plausible storyline and screenplay. The only hitch is that none of shankar’s characters (Indian, Anniyan) are realistic and since cinema is make-believe, the movie becomes engaging.
Performances
National Award Winning actor, Vikram is in full-form this time again and he takes the movie on his strong shoulders right till the end. Ambi in him is coy, ANNIYAN in him is dangerous and menacing and the REMO in him is romantic and stunning and he portrays all the characters just like the way they are. I don’t think any actor of today could do the climax scene like Vikram. A definite award winning performance! Sadha is cute, gentle and lovable. She has a role in this vikram-shankar dominated movie and she does impress you in various scenes. She is graceful in the song sequences especially. Prakashraj is impressive and Vivek do tickle your bones occasionally. Nasser and Nedumudi venu are apt. Music by Harris Jayaraj is good but what lifts the songs are the sets and the locations erected for it. The cinematographer and the art director needs special mention and deserve a pat on their shoulders for their commendable job. The first song ’’Oh Sukumari’’ picturization amidst the flowers is mind-blowing and there are lot more in the other songs too. Peter Hein does repeat the ’’Matrix’’ style fights but still it is okay since it is just a fiction and not a real life story. Director Shankar comes up with a laudable effort this time and takes the movie in his stride. Every frame has been made with sincerity and dedication.
Overall, I would say that this movie is more like a fantasy ride and is a definite entertainer with a hammer-strong message.
I would give 8.5 out of 10 for this movie.