Fast and Furious

A well made commercial movie is fun anydays. If you believe so, "AYAN" (A Sun Pictures presentation of an AVM Production) is for you. It is topical, has been stylishly shot, does not take extensive cinematic liberties and entertains you throughout its length, isnt that too much considering the inanities that hit the screen these days?

AYAN is the story of Deva (Surya) who is the right hand of Dass (Prabhu) indulging in smuggling of pirated CD's and Diamonds from countries like Malaysia and Congo. Kamlesh (Akashdeep Sehgal) is Dass's business rival and is on the prowl to take over the smuggling kingdom from Dass through hook or crook. The story is more or less about how Deva and Kamlesh fight it out and who emerges the winner, finally. It would not be fair to disclose anything further about the storyline since it will take away the fun of watching the movie at a theatre.

It is heartening to see Prabhu take up well written character roles and doing complete justice to them (something the ageing Malayalam Superstars can give a try!). Jagan is a revelation playing Chitty, Deva's best friend. Tamannah shows improvement and looks pretty. Renuka makes good use of the few sequences that she appears in. Ponnvannan is as good as ever. Akashdeep Sehgal is a let down. He wears a single expression throughout and his lip synching is atrocious. In terms of performance, he is the only one who does not contribute.

Antony's razor sharp editing coupled with costumes, art direction and photography add further value to Ayan. The car chase sequence in Malaysia and the stunts in Congo deserve special mention. Dont miss the title shots where the night view of Malaysia and Sydney are captured breathtakingly by the cinematographer. On the technical side, it is Harris Jeyaraj who disappoints- not even a single song is hummable!

K V Anand and Subha are creditted with the script and dialogues- they have done a good job with both! Anand's directorial skills are on display once again and we can say safely now that he is one of the best cinematographer turned director ever in Indian Cinema!

Surya with his youthful good looks, charm and a sculpted torso, is a delight to watch and does not falter even in a single scene or expression. He carries the entire film on his strong and broad shoulders and is a treat to watch. Comedy comes easily to him and his agility in the action sequences is commendable. He is good at emotions too and woos Tamannah on screen very well. His dance moves are perfect and there is hardly anything that he cannot do!

AYAN is a good follow up for Surya to flicks like Kaakha Kaakha, Ghajini and Vaaranam Aayiram. With this one, he proves that he is a class actor who is acceptable to the masses as well :-) This one is not to be missed...