7ஆம் அறிவு - Tamil Jingoism in top gear

7ஆம்  அறிவு - Tamil Jingoism in top gear

Thanks to my friend Jaya and Shankar,  we got to see the much awaited Tamil movie of the year yesterday. As with any movie with such sky high expectations, there is bound to be divergent opinions and mine is not flattering.

After Gajini became a super dooper hit in Tamil & Hindi, expectations were running high as AR Murugadass, Surya and Hariss Jayaraj teamed up again.  With a open checkbook from Karunanidhi family, 7ஆம்  அறிவு has been shot in exotic locales and in a grand scale. 

First the good stuff..

Udyanidhi Stalin (producer) 'proudly' presents this movie and it shows in the movie.  He has spent lavishly, be it for exotic locales or for outlandish fight sequences.  Besides the open checkbook, producer also seem to have given his prized possession for the film, car.  Udayanidhi's Hummer is the villan's transport in the city.  

The marketing engine of Red Giant has gone all out to hype this movie and if one were to just go by the media buzz, the change in power (from DMK to ADMK) doesn't seemed to have affected this movie at all. 

Suriya (lead actor), as usual has worked hard for this movie and it shows in every frame he appears.  He clearly compensates for  the lack of charisma with his sheer hard work.  He must have worked really hard to get and retain '8 pack abs' all thru the movie.  Suriya has come a long way in the last few years.. well done Suriya.. I applaud your dedication and hard work.

Thanks to AR Murugadass for putting the spotlight on Bodhi Dharman.  I wouldn't have known or read about this 6th century Tamilian if not for this movie.

Fight sequences have been shot on a grand scale and are riveting.  I particularly like the crashing of vehicles and theme in the fight.  I also liked the first fight sequence in a Chinese village.

I liked the elephant ride sequence and the song sequence shot in the busy Ranganathan Street.  Also, several portions of the film have been shot in South Chennai and I personally could relate to some of those.. like IITM, Thiru Vi Ka bridge, Vet clinic, Elliots Beach etc.,

Now the not so good stuff..

Harris Jeyaraj music is just passe.  Expect for a couple of songs, his music score is very average and the background music is jarring in many places.  I expected much more from Harris.

Shruthi Hassan, the famous daughter of a famous actor debuts in this movie as a actor and does a decent job.  But she should have gone for voice over.  She pays glowing tributes to Tamil in a heavily accented delivery which takes the sheen away from the message.  Brush up you Tamil & delivery before you attempt to lend your voice again for Tamil movies.

Plot - AR Murugadass's treatment of the story line is very shallow and weak.  He shows China as attempting to launch a biological war on India but fails to show the motivations for such diabolical war.  Worse, he wants you to believe that it can be handled by a lone scientist with no broader Govt. involvement.  And what will this scientist do? She will do DNA re-sequencing on a living human being.. never mind the fact that it has never done before.

Jingoism - AR Murugadass has put the spotlight on the forgotten Bodhi Dharman, but in the process he has shown the present day China in a poor light. I wonder why?  What was the need for that?  Also, there are factual inaccuracies about 1962 Indo-China war, which India lost badly. 

AR Murugadass shows Tamils as victims in many parts of the world and talks about the துரோஹம் perpetuated on Tamils in Sri Lanka by a group of 9 countries... where is he getting the facts from? 

AR Murugadass also gets very preachy urges Tamils to 'Awake & Arise'.. and that perhaps is the 7ஆம்  அறிவு?

Overall I give ** (out of 5) for this movie.