Asuran (2019)

My experience with Adukalam was not too fulfilling. It had interesting story, but the very fake looking CGI roosters put me off. A hardworking filmmaker would get real roosters, train them up or something and get them to fight. If any animal rights activists protest, direct them to slaughterhouses. The CGI in it was lazy work…and it soured my viewing experience.

Coming to this film, I didn’t put in much expectation as for the limited experience I had with Vetrimaran/Dhanush collaborations. And boy was I in a treat…as in a critic who gets to sharpen his implements.

Not that I am going to attack this film mercilessly. I must give due credit to Dhanush the actor who has been brilliantly ascending in his performance scale. Not really up there yet, some amateurish elements do rear their ugly heads, but, then again, he is at the mercy of the script and he struggles to maintain consistency.

Which brings us to the script itself. Are there subtexts to be understood in this film from an accolade garnering team of filmmakers and actor, well perhaps…but it did not penetrate the semi-literate brain of mine.

What I saw was some barebone story heavily peppered with violence and verbal smackdowns that are, well, to borrow the now forgotten cliché, damp squibs. The onscreen performers are all fine, belting out with glee the best performance they can - especially the girls - led by the affably gifted Dhanush. But they can only go far.

The script does not wander far from the templates set by the likes of Bharathiraja (village violence) and Kamal in his two important films, Thevar Magan and Virumandi (Village err… physical brutality). While Bharathiraja innovated, experimented, succeeded and is thriving mainly for those reasons alone, Kamal added intelligence to his storytelling in both stories, though he may have borrowed the structure. We walk away from both films feeling bitter and down, especially for having actually enjoyed the violent scenes. A guilty pang that will trouble you for days.

But here, the violence is glorified. No? Listen to the background score during those scenes, if those choruses and thundering sounds are not applauding and urging the scene participants on, and what the heck are they doing there? Yes, music is everywhere, but what is Tamil film without giving their composers a 100-meter dash for their money. Squeeze ‘em dry, that’s the filmmakers’ attitude towards the composers.

Much blood can be seen spilt and you will wonder what the heck had happened. Or at least, I did. We have the inevitable flashback without which the entire Tamil film industry is a Titanic. It was totally unnecessary “superhero origin” story. He was violent. He ain’t no more. Hey, look he is violent again. Pacino half mocked, half complained as Michael Corleone in Godfather pt. 3 “Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!”.

I walked away from this film feeling unsure about not liking it. Dhanush and Vetrimaran combination is like, for the current crop of Tamil film fans, Scorsese and de Niro or Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. What can go wrong? Something can…there will be some few disgruntled film fans who had it up here with the scythe-related violent scenes and stories spun around it to justify the bloodbath…the very minority who will make no difference anyway.

Dhanush will continue to ascend, but are the fans going to look back at these flicks as the pinnacle of his performance? Time would tell. Completely deprived of humour, he allowed the size of his moustache to do most of the heavy lifting…and I say that he is actually underused here. Next time, Dhanush. I may not wait, because I am thinking quitting Tamil films on big screen…. again….