Vishnuvardhan, one time associate of Santhosh Sivan is back with his second film Arindhum Ariyamalum. The film, which is presented in style, has the right mix of emotions, humour, romance and action to make it a good entertainer.
Sathya (Navdeep), a Brahmin boy who lost his parents while still a child, was living with his grandfather. He comes to Chennai to study engineering. He stays with his family friend 'Five Star' Krishna. Sathya falls in love with Sandhya (Samiksha) a classmate. Several times, Sathya witnesses Kutty (Arya), the son of Adhi Narayanan (Prakashraj) a local toughie, in action. In one such encounter of Kutty with his rival gang, Sandhya is shot in the leg. She is hospitalized and Sathya informs the police that he can identify the assailant. This brings him in direct confrontation with the father-son mafia duo. A newly appointed police officer is on the mission to nail down the mafia gang. The story takes a turn when Adhi Narayanan discovers that Sathya is none other than his son and tries to bring him into the fold but the young boy is terrified of his new found father and brother. The uniting of Satya with his father and brother forms the rest of the story.
The major plus points of the film are Arya, Prakashraj, Samiksha, and cinematography and stunt sequences. Arya bowls you over with his intense performance as the son of Prakashraj. His ruggedness, body language and dialogue delivery is very impressive. Similarly Prakashraj as the middle aged mafia leader who maintains his cool and later on as the doting father who chases his newly found son is simply marvelous. Samiksha fits the bill as the mod chewing gum college student. Nirav Shah's cinematography is a major asset to the taut screenplay. His camera movements in the action sequences (choreographed by Thiagarajan) are a treat to watch. Yuvan's music is racy and peppy. The only weak link in the film is Navdeep who at many times comes up with a dumb look. Director Visnuvardhan has woven a good screenplay which shifts from romance to action and to a tale of father-son bonding but laced with humour. He has etched the central characters in depth and this makes the film stand apart from others. Producer 'Punnagai Poove' Geetha makes an impressive cameo appearance as the collector out to rid the town of rowdies. On the whole, the film is worth watching.