Anniyan - Indian Reloaded

Anniyan shows a packed JN stadium a "film-division" kind of flick through a projector on a giant screen. He cites a few examples of small East-Asian countries like Singapore, Japan, Korea, Malaysia succeeded economically inspite of their small size and against unsurmountable odds. He asks in righteous indignation why this is not the case with our India?
I wish to show a similar flick to director Shankar about quality movies from other parts of the world and even from our country. I will ask him "See the kind of movies they are making? Don't we have the talent, creativity and ability to make such movies? Why is the quality of Tamil movies so bad that the medioccre is accepted as good and the average is rated as great? Inspite of being a talented and successful director who gives a lot of attention to detail, why do you insist on rehashing the same themes again and again ad nauseum? Why waste a good performance from Vikram and the sacrifice he has made for more than a year on such a stale script?"

Well, that's Anniyan for you - Indian rehashed, albeit unsuccessfully. I don't know if the movie will be a hit or not but i can say that almost every scene brings a sense of deja vu to the viewer. Vikram's performance abd screen presence maybe the saving grace for the film, apart from the picturization of songs one usually expects from a Shankar film.
I missed the opening few minutes of the movie as a few of my friends arrived a bit late to the theatre. After the movie all of us wondered why we shouldn't have come three hours late to the movie!
Shankar is a victim of his own obsession with technical ostentation. Showing a spilt personality in Chandramukhi was convincing, but in Anniyan, it almost looks like a joke and any student or practitioner of psychology will laugh all the way back home on seeing such a concept being reduced to a mockery of "Ambi", "Remo" and "Anniyan".
Shankar's stunts are becoming increasingly painful to watch. However, the fight at the martial arts club comes with a statutory warning: You might spill your guts out laughing at the stunt. I mean i was never a fan of Jet Li or The Matrix this stunt sequence is a rape of both put together. Not to mention Vikram fly Gilli-style in the first fight.
Why don't we ban graphics in Indian cinema instead of banning smoking?
There are a lot of questions raised and left unanswered - the transitions from each personality lacks credibility, the love scenes between "Remo" and "Nandy" are unconvincing to name a couple. In fact, Vikram could have done without his put-on accent as the mod-Remo.
Perhaps the most glaring mistake in the movie is this: It is inexplicable that Sadha cannot make out that "Ambi" and "Remo" are the same. Reminds me of the MGR-days when the only disguising would be either a "dhrishti" pottu or sun glasses.

To say something positive about the movie, well obviously Vikram. Vivek's comedy passes muster.
One thing interesting thing i observed (or was it my imagination) is in the showdown with Prakash Raj, "Ambi" has a slight paunch while "Anniyan" has a tight ab.

All in all, it would be a travesty if this movie were to be a hit. Well, such is the nature of things in Tamil Nadu at present. You never know.