I think all of us know the story of 7 am arivu..That's why I am posting this elaborated review..Please don't get me wrong for posting entire story...Because I love that movie so much...good science fiction,historic and modern too...
After four years,we planned to go for a movie..But I desperately want to see 7 am arivu film..I love to watch movies only in theatres...I used to tell detail review about a film even in my college days ..I watched some films even 25 times too...7 am arivu is that kind ..It is completely my opinion..we got tickets..I started praying to god as we are taking kavin also with us..I got popcorns,biscuits,juices for kavin...what's next?..So yeah ...the movie began...going back 1600 years to the Pallava dynasty ...where Surya's intro happens...as Bodhidharma ...WOW !!!! WHAT A MIGHTY PHYSIQUE & LOOK !!!!! This is one thing about Surya which leaves EVERYONE awestruck - HIS ABILITY TO EASILY SLIP INTO ANY DAMN ROLE VERY CONVINCINGLY ...LIKE A CHAMELEON !!! He is shown teaching martial arts to a few people ...He departs to China on his horse ...meditating frequently on the way...He finally reaches China where he is not welcome by the people ...
Meanwhile, a huge epidemic occurs..with people collapsing instantly & suffering from black spots on the skin...a lot of lives are lost ...A young girl who is a victim is taken away to be buried ..because it is decided that she cannot be cured...The mother is distraught in deep anguish....Bodhidharma, however uses some herbs and cures the girl ...& brings her back...
The mother's joy & surprise on seeing her daughter back & healthy ...is VERY TOUCHING !! Wonderful & moving performance by the Chinese lady who played the mother ...Here is where The Rise of The Damo song comes ...Pretty good situation ..makes sense now, as to why it sounded a lot like a rhyme...It could've obviously been different, tune-wise ... Cinematography and background music are awesome.
In the meanwhile, their village is attacked by another army ...Bodhidharma once again comes to their rescue by fighting the army off single-handily ...as well as hypnotism - he hypnotizes the army members into killing each other .. !!! WOW !!!!!!! SURYA !!!!! TOOOO GOOOD !!!!!!!!!!! Bodhidharma is SURELY Surya's BEST performance till date, according to me !!! I HAVE NEVER SEEN HIM PERFORM ANY ROLE WITH THIS MUCH OF INTENSITY !!!!!! ..SURYA's EYES JUST STEAL U..
The Chinese villagers bow down to Bodhidharma who is known to them as Damo ...He teaches them all his secrets of martial arts, warfare as well as medicine ...However, when it is time for him to return ...the Chinese don't want his secrets to spread elsewhere..So they poison him ...& he dies...However, he is remembered as a God ..and has many temples built to his honor ...The village where he used to teach is presently the Shaolin temple...where hundreds of people are being trained in his arts ...There are many such temples all over China ...The focus shifts to a video footage of interviews, where it is revealed that people all over China know about Bodhidharma as Damo ...whereas NO ONE, NOT A SINGLE SOUL ..in India has even the remotest idea of who he is !!!!!!!!!!!!! SAD...PATHETIC STATE OF AFFAIRS IN INDIA !!!!!!!! ONCE AGAIN, WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA BY MURUGADOSS..TO CONVEY THIS FACT !!! BRILLIANT WAY OF PUTTING IT ACROSS !!!!!!
Also, in the meanwhile, the Chinese govt. is shown planning a bio-war "Operation Red" on India...by attacking them with the same disease which plagued them years ago...so that India is at their mercy...because only they know the cure to the disease...However, they receive news about Subha who has done great research on Bodhidharma & his lineage..they see her thesis as a threat to their plans...so they plan to send Shaolin's BEST output - Dong Lee (played by Johnny Tri Nyugen) ...to India...to finish her off ...Dong Lee's intro scene is awesome ...where he hypnotizes a security guard into shooting himself...
The scene shifts to Bombay Circus ..& Surya's intro as Arvind....He even proposes to her & gives her a doll which he himself made..but she accepts it & somehow avoids it by telling "I love you too" followed by something else. ..WOW !! Twist!! :) ...She then happens to see Arvind's family members at the circus...She is shocked & turns her face away ..They call her ...and ask her "eppdi ma irukke" etc...She pretends as if she doesn't know who they are ..and says "ille..neenga confuse ayrkenga...enakku Arvind nu yaaryume theriyaadhu!" ...& walks away ...finally Arvind's dad tells him EVERYTHING...after he sees him with Subha ...he tells him about how she is using him for her research on Bodhidharma's genetics...& how she visited all of them in their village to collect information, DNA samples etc...
So far, the movie was AWESOME...WOW !!!!!! The only drawbacks were -There should've been at least SOME explanation as to why the Chinese wanted to attack India ...i.e. may be India doing well etc..something like that !! OR ..It must've been shown as some Chinese terrorists who planned the attack & not the Chinese govt. itself ...This part falls a little short of being convincing
The romance - If Murugadoss had cut out romance, believe me, this would've been ONE OF THE GREATEST TAMIL FILMS OF ALL TIME...EASILY !!!! IT WOULD'VE BEEN TRULY WORLD-CLASS ..If romance was cut out...If songs were removed ...it would've even given Harris Jayaraj all the time to come up with AN EXTRAORDINARY BACKGROUND MUSIC !!!!!!!! OUT OF THE WORLD ....I'm PRETTY sure that if it was Kamal Hassan instead of Murugadoss...he would've SURELY cut out romance....But yeah, Murugadoss ended up falling as a bait to commercial elements...& the romance DOES seem FORCED ...There is NOT enough chemistry between Surya & Shruti ..& especially keeping in mind, the EPIC Surya-Asin chemistry in Ghajini...the expectations would've been sky-high for this ...I think THAT'S why most of the audience got disappointed....The case in many movies so far, is that - the romance & chemistry between the lead pair is awesome & Harris' songs just elevate them to a significantly greater level :) ...However in this one, the imbalance is seen ...when there is hardly any chemistry between the lead pair, even the most romantic of Harris' songs FAILS to infuse romance between them....that's why many people see songs as a road block or say that too many songs are squeezed in & spoiled the proceedings...This is why even "Yamma yamma" fails to have an impact ...Compare this with "Anjala" from Vaaranam Ayiram..Surya-Sameera chemistry was SO AWESOME..that Anjala ACTUALLY MADE U FEEL the pain ...Here is where Murugadoss lost it:)...Romance either shouldn't be there at all...or should be there in entirely ..not a half-baked cake...So this has had a ripple effect & Harris is being targeted for not giving good songs...when the reality is that the songs didn't gel with the movie :)...& appeared disconnected...
Anyways...going ahead with the story ...Subha takes Arvind again to her relic building to explain about her thesis & research etc ...& how she needs his cooperation for a few final parts of her work...Arvind agrees ...It is found out that his DNA sequence has more than 80% match with that of Bodhidharma's ....In the meanwhile, Dong Lee arrives and begins "Operation Red" by injecting the disease into a stray dog...Police arrive and question him...He fights them off ...THIS IS A BRILLIANT SCENE...He then hypnotizes one officer into shooting everyone else...WOW !!! I HAVE RARELY SEEN VILLAINS SO MENACING !!!!!! He was AWESOME !!!!
It's time for Subha to present her work ...but the professors have a very bad attitude & put her down ...by insulting Tamil & Tamilians ..She loses her cool, starts swearing at them & leaves the hall in a huff ...2 other students who are fans of her research promise her assistance whenever needed...So yeah...back to the story...Dong Lee comes to attack Subha as well...Arvind wants to fight him off....But Subha cautions him of getting caught in his hypnosis ...just like other police offers were ..and shooting each other....So they escape...& follow him...they find out that Subha's prof is the one who is assisting him ...they hijack his house ...& find out all things relevant to Operation Red ...roughly around $300 crore is at stake I guess...So, they decide to nab the professor...They set up a plan...kidnap the professor & extract all the details from him ...In the meanwhile, many casualties occur due to the spread of the disease ....More & more people die ...In the hospital, Subha tries to explain to the doctor to take the patients into isolation & to curb the spread of the deadly disease...but the doctor doesn't listen...SO DAMN TRUE!! HATS OFF, MURUGADOSS....THIS ONE WAS REMINISCENT OF THE REVERED HOSPITAL SCENE in Ramana...Dong Lee comes there as well...he tries to hypnotize Arvind ..BUT FAILS !!!! WOW !!!!! :) The audience whistled at this point ...
Then comes the chase scene where Dong Lee hypnotizes the auto driver into riding rashly and trying to kill Subha & Arvind...THEN HAPPENS ONE SPECTACULAR SCENE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY ...Dong Lee hypnotizes A LOT OF VEHICLES AND PEOPLE INTO TRYING TO KILL THEM...AND A HUGE DISASTER HAPPENS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD !!! THIS IS ONE THE BEST SCENES IN THE MOVIE !!!!!!! WOW !!! HATS OFF MURUGADOSS ...BRILLIANT STUFF ...IT'LL ALWAYS BE AN EPIC SCENE ...NEVER BEFORE HAS TAMIL CINEMA SEEN SUCH HOLLYWOOD-ISH ACTION ....EXCEPT ENDHIRAN PERHAPS...& OF COURSE, DONG LEE IS AS GOOD AS SURYA WHEN IT COMES TO EXPRESSING THROUGH HIS EYES ...BRILLIANT !!!!!!!!!!!! Dong Lee then speaks to his gurus at Shaolin & finds out why he wasn't able to hypnotize Arvind ...They tell him that it is Damo who is living in Arvind ...another round of whistling...They ask him to return as it is not safe for him...But he is in no mood to listen & goes on to continue his mission ....
They then escape ...they meet the students...devise a plan ...the only way out is to genetically re-engineer Bodhidharma's DNA into Arvind ...which would take a week....Here's where the "Innum enna Thozha" song comes...wonderful situation & a good song too :)...Harris could've done something better for this situation....but this definitely wasn't bad...it was good.....So, they go into hiding in the middle of IIT campus ...and do it ...However, Dong Lee finds out about their source of stuff...from the professor...kills him...he then gets to know their plan from one of the students ....and kills her....A killing spree begins !!! He then kills another student outside IIT Madras ...Subha hears everything through the phone...and breaks down uncontrollably ...( Shruti's acting is BRILLIANT in this scene !!!!!! This scene proved that she is a WONDERFUL actor !!!!! TOO GOOD !!! ) ...He enters their hideout ...they're escaping in a van ..when he stops them short ...Only 6 minutes was remaining in the genetic engineering process...Subha maintained that Arvind shouldn't be exposed to light ....But everything fails...He starts trying to mercilessly kill Arvind...
What's next?...that's the climax....
The story then progresses to a TV interview...where Arvind is shown curing all the patients and ending the disease...He then urges everyone with an important message...(Murugadoss in a guest appearance watches on the camera)...to REVISIT OUR CULTURE ...REVISIT OUR ANCESTRY...OUR HERITAGE ...YOU EVER KNOW WHO YOU'RE FROM...AFTER ALL !!!!! WOW !!!!!!!! BRILLIANT MESSAGE !!!!!! STANDING OVATION !!!!!!!!
I STOOD UP & CLAPPED AWAY !!!!!!! WOW !!!!!!! WOW !!!!! I WAS COMPLETELY IN AWE OF THE MOVIE ....I HAD NEVER SEEN A STORY LIKE THIS IN TAMIL CINEMA !!!!!!
So yeah, if this script is indeed original as claimed, MURUGADOSS DESERVES TO BE LAUDED & AWARDED FOR COMING UP WITH SUCH A BRILLIANT & VERY NOVEL STORY...& AT THE SAME TIME, A VERY INSPIRING ONE TOO !!! FINE, THE MOVIE HAS ITS FLAWS ...BUT COME ON !!!!!!!! THEY ARE SO MINOR COMPARED TO THE NOVELTY & BRILLIANCE OF THE STORY & SCRIPT !!!! HATS OFF TO MURUGADOSS' GUTS...FOR EXECUTING SOMETHING LIKE THIS .
After Dasavatharam, this is SURELY a LANDMARK in the history of Tamil cinema...
Anyways, in the end...I would just like to say - 7am Arivu, despite falling bait to commercial fare overall, with its share of flaws...shatters MANY norms of Tamil Cinema ...PLEASE WATCH THE MOVIE AT LEAST FOR ITS NOVELTY & UNIQUENESS IN STORY !!!! IT IS DEFINITELY AN ASSET TO TAMIL CINEMA..SOMETHING WHICH IT CAN & SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF...FOR YEARS TO COME.
PS : Kavin slept off very nicely and we watched the movie without even a single distraction from him.....
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