Production: Passion Studios
Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Archana, Gayathrie, J Mahendran, Parvathy Nair, Rajkumar, Remya Nambeesan
Direction: Balaji Tharaneetharan
Screenplay, Story: Balaji Tharaneetharan
Music, Background score: Govind Vasantha
Storyline:
Seethakathi talks the story of Ayya Aadhimoolam (Vijay Sethupathi), a veteran theatre artist who enters the film industry and how things go forms the crux of the story.
Review:
First of all, Vijay Sethupathi is a class apart and stands ahead of all the heroes in cinema. This is his 25th film, and as Ayya, he attracts us all.
Balaji Tharaneetharan who made us all laugh with ‘Nadula Konjam Pakatha Kaanum’ once again teams up with his actor Vijay Sethupathi and gives us a movie that’s a mixture of all emotions including his stamp humour.
Ayya Aadhimoolam is someone who doesn’t act in films and prefers acting in front of the audience on the stage. Over the span of his career, theatre as an art form dwindles in popularity, but he still continues doing what he does, with immense passion and dignity.
The first forty minutes of the movie which is slow paced talks about the life of Ayya, his life as the theatre artist, different plays at different ages starting from the 1950s to till now and content changes accordingly.
The septuagenarian who hates acting in the movies becomes a successful movie actor in a unique twist and disappear after knowing the wicked plan of the producer, Dhanapal (Sunil) leaving his friend Parasuraman (Mouli) and family to face one of the bizarre court cases ever.
After the first few minutes, there’s a complete change, and the director’s trademark dark comedy jumps in along with some fantasy.
The director deserves a lot of credits for adding entertainment to otherwise an artsy movie. Once again, Govind Vasantha’s music stands out. His way of using the Violin and flute provides emotions and connects with us. The songs like ‘Ayya’ and ‘Avan’ fixes beautifully with the movie while a few themes sound blissful.
Sunil, the brother of actor Vaibhav has pulled off one of the toughest performances ever especially on a debut. The cameos from Director Deekay, director Mahendran, Karunakaran and GM Sundar looks convincing. Veteran director-actor Mouli provides a brilliant performance as well.
There are a few heroines with brief cameo roles, but Ramya Nambeesan stands out.
The editor Govindraj and the cinematographer carries the movie throughout. There’s a 15-minute single shot of a play on Aurangzeb’s last days, and it has worked out well.
The movie does have its own set of flaws. A few scenes are dragging and the two hours and 53 minutes are a bit lengthy. Yet the movie is full of fun and emotions which shouldn’t be missed.
