Ayalaan Review: SK struggles yet succeeds in saving the planet and the film

Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Sharad Khelkar, Rakulpreet Singh and Isha Kopikkar

Director: R Ravikumar

Music Director: AR Rahman

Rating - 2.5/5

Director Ravikumar, who tickled our funny bone with a time-travel flick like Indru Netru Naalai (2015),was busy with Ayalaan for quite a long time until its release today. The film, though leaned on science though not in a convincing manner, still connected with the audience due to its comic abilities. Cut to nine years, his collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan too was not expected to pass the science test, but what remains when aliens and doomsday conspiracy are taken out is a regular mass hero film. The 'forced' science fiction elements merely helps in fan servicing than being of any crucial utility in the narration.

The film starts with a meteor strike on a mountain in Siberia, with a portion called 'Spark' ending up in the hands of Aryan (Sharad Khelkar) giving rise to his pernicious plans. How can and will the nature-loving farmer Tamil (Sivakarthikeyan), from a lush Poombarai, be enough to save the planet from its destruction is what Ayalaan is all about.

Neither the first nor the second half could fully be called satisfying or boring. There are no high points from where the writing plummets, it is more of a straight line with minor peaks and valleys. Ravikumar's focus was more on projecting Tamil as a man of destiny rather than the staging. Take Spark for instance, a meteoric material which enables sourcing and mining of the dangerous Novo gas, has no character to it. The material is as good as a tennis ball which gets caught and missed by both sides. The precision writing of the vial (Dasavatharam), which was given certain conditions to prevent catastrophe, was required but ended up being a costly miss in Ayalaan.

Enter Tattoo (Alien - voiced by Siddharth), which also has a purpose to safeguard the planet. This was a wise call by the director to make the contest between a sophisticated villain and an innocent villager even. However, he wasn't brave enough to relegate the backseat to the hero when necessary. Having said all these, Ayalaan only works in parts, majorly in the parts in which Tattoo and Tamil team up.

The sprinklings of undercooked social-responsibility tropes 'Vivasaayam Kaapom' (save agriculture), eat healthy, don't use fertilisers fortunately do not overstay their welcome. But such tokenisms make us cringe, as Tamil cinema has been seeking asylum in forcing such elements for the sake of it in its premises.

First half killed time with ritualistic rom-com scenes. As the plot gets revealed little by little the pace picks up hurriedly to set the tone for the second half. But it meanders with a done-to-death hero centric treatment. Just before things go haywire, the protagonists are rendered helpless by an intriguing turn of events, keeping us still invested. Their recovery and fight-back mildly engages us with the film ending on an mediocre note.

None of the characters leave a lasting impression. Sivakarthikeyan and Alien have high moments but are devoid of arcs. The villain and supporting characters are bleary at best.

Crucial takeaways from the film are the combination scenes between SK and the CG-generated alien, and efforts put in by the VFX department. The work stands out in scenes where there are multiple aliens with distinguishable faces. With the letdowns spoken of elaborately, AR Rahman too joins the list with forgettable songs and score.

Ayalaan can only be enjoyed if it is understood as a film of another mass hero, who tries to save the planet where science and aliens exist solely for his build-up. Besides all the negative factors, this film could be absolute fun (especially for kids) if you love Sivakarthikeyan and if you aren't a sucker for novelty.