Movie rating 3/5
Direction Rathna Kumar
Writer Rathna Kumar
Producer Viji Subramaniyan
Cast Amala Paul
Ananya Ramaprasad
Ramya Subramanian
Music Pradeep Kumar
Oorka (band)
Cinematography Vijay Karthik Kannan
Editor Shafique Mohammed Ali
Production company SK Studios
Running Time 143 mins
Release Date 19th July 2019
A Wickedly Ambitious, Though Slightly Problematic, Survival Drama Held Together By Some Crackling Comedy And An In-Form Amala Paul,Amala Paul has broken all the barriers and shed her inhibitous as she appears in the final part of the video without any clothes. Presumably, the movie is about a rape victim and tries to throw light at an issue which is plaguing the society.
Amala Paul’s look of a bruised and battered woman, visuals and background have been appreciated by cine-goers. Jean Paul’s quote “Freedom is about what you do with what’s been done to you” looks apt to the content.Rathna Kumar’s fascinating new film isn’t just about feminism. It’s also about what it has become to many. Because it’s easy to mistake Kamini as a true feminist icon. She’s fearless, independent and driven with a solid head over her shoulders. She also drinks, smokes and rides a sports bike. So when it’s time to get to work, she doesn’t have to wait for her boyfriend to pick her up. She picks him up and he sits behind, clinging on to her for dear life as she zooms past Tamil film heroes from lesser films. But do these traits alone make her a ‘true’ feminist?
Kamini, for starters, works in a news organisation. And instead of working as a reporter, she finds name and fame hosting a prank show that does a few hilarious things to elicit laughter. Watch out for that scene where a friend ‘reverses’ this prank on her after a failed proposal. When this friend asks her why she always chooses to sit behind him on his bike, if its not love, she says, ‘if I choose to always pick you, that doesn’t mean I like you. It’s just means that I like your bike.’ This has got to be one of the coolest lines I’ve heard this year.
But her mother isn’t exactly excited about her achievements. She dreams of the day when she can see her daughter become a newsreader wearing a nice saree and matching jewellery like a ‘nalla ponnu’. In reality, though, wearing a saree is the stuff that makes up Kamini’s nightmares. So when her mother forces Kamini to properly hide her bra strap, it foreshadows how the film is not just about the female body. It’s also about those loaded terms that we throw around like ‘maanam’ or dignity.The acid trip sequences carry a Gaspar Noe-ish flavour. The whimsical filmmaking is less flashy and more controlled. Even the music speaks volumes of the film’s unusual nature. The soundtrack is a mix of alternative rock, melody and a devotional track with a juicy twist.
Aadai is replete with delicious moments of irony (one of the attention-seekers wears a T-Shirt with Frida Kahlo’s face printed on it), and of course, the anti-establishment jokes. Despite a slightly incoherent third act, ‘Aadai’ is a kind of film that breaks every preconceived notion one might carry before experiencing the film.
Overall, there are some diversions in the script that comes through police-thief comedy sequence and the unwanted songs too. However, Aadai remains to be a good and exceptional one that is worth watching.