Review: Ariyavan

The film’s intention is noble. It looks to drive home the point that self help is the best help and that women, when facing issues, must not hope for others to come to their rescue but rather look to confront their own problems themselves with confidence and courage.

Film: Ariyavan
Director: Mithran R Jawahar
Cast: Ishaaon, Prranali, Daniel Balaji, Sathyan, SuperGood Subramani and others
Music: James Vasanthan, Ved Shankar and Giri Nandhi
Cameraman: K S Vishnusri
Rating: 3 stars

Director Mithran R Jawahar’s film ‘Ariyavan’ attempts to drive home the powerful and noble message that women in distress cannot afford to wait for a knight in shining armour to come to their rescue and that they will have to deal with their problems themselves.

The story revolves around Jeeva(Ishaaon), a kabaddi player living with his mother and uncle in a middle-class locality, surrounded by friends and family. Jeeva is in love with an orphan(Prranali) who stays at a woman’s hostel. The two are all set to get married soon.

Life is smooth for the lovers until one day, Jeeva’s girlfriend calls him for help. She tells him that her roommate is in trouble and needs help.

She tells Jeeva that her roommate called Jessie had fallen in love with a guy. Having trusted him, she had gotten intimate with him. However, the man had made videos of them together and was now blackmailing her with it. On learning that Jessie is now being forced to service others, Jeeva comes to Jessie’s rescue.

However, while rescuing her, he finds out that Jessie is not the only girl who is being blackmailed in such a fashion and that a number of other women have also been entrapped by a gang that is led by Thuraipandi (Daniel Balaji).

He decides to help all the women who have been trapped by the gang. How he helps them is what the film is all about.

The film’s intention is noble. It looks to drive home the point that self help is the best help and that women, when facing issues, must not hope for others to come to their rescue but rather look to confront their own problems themselves with confidence and courage.

The film moves at a blistering pace and delivers a substantial message. Just for these, it wins hands down.

Newcomer Ishaaon looks convincing in fights and stunt sequences. In fact, his height gives him a big advantage and stunt master Mahesh Mathew seems to have kept in mind his height advantage while choreographing the fight sequences.

However, Ishaaon has some work to do when it comes to showcasing emotions. Having said that, one must also remember that this is just his first film and that he can, with proper guidance, go a long way.

Newcomer Prranali does a neat job of playing Jeeva’s love interest. She is convincing from start to finish and delivers what is expected of her.

On the technical side, the film’s music and its stunt sequences work like a charm. The film has three music directors and all three seem to have delivered numbers that aid the film.

The stunts are in fact the film’s biggest strength. Mahesh Mathew, who has choreographed the fights, seems to have a thorough understanding of the stunts and has choreographed some wonderful action sequences that look realistic and natural.

In all, Ariyavan is a reasonably good entertainer with a noble message.