Yaan - Novice Actioner !!!

Bharath Vijayakumar

Tamil cinema is known for well known cinematographers who turned their attention to direction. P.C.Sriram,Thankar Bachan,K.V.Anand, Vijay Milton and the list goes on. Ravi. K. Chandran joins this  league with Yaan. With a well known lead cast and a strong technical team has he been able to make an impression with his maiden attempt at direction. Read on to find.

Plot:

An ordinary man caught in an extraordinary situation. Yes it is the same basic premise that has been the elixir for commercial cinema for quite a while now. Chandru(Jiiva) a happy-go-lucky and unemployed youngster suddenly gets serious after uncomfortable questions are asked by his lady love's father. He looks for opportunity to prove his mettle in a foreign land and this leads him into a precarious situation. How he gets out of it is Yaan for you.

Cast:

Jiiva is convincing as the burden-free youngster in the first half of the film. Despite the extremely mundane nature of the romantic scenes they click to an extent thanks to this man's screen presence. He is a live-wire throughout the first half of Yaan. Thulasi plays the typical commercial film heroine and looks the part as the Mumbai bred Tamil girl. Actors like Nasser and Jayaprakash are given very little scope and they just do their routine. Even Karunakran who gets a loud cheer from the audience has been under utilised.

Crew:

The songs are typical Harris Jayaraj stuff that are easy on the ear with a deja vu feel. But that one soothing melody which usually stays with us is missing in Yaan. Cinematography is the eye catcher in Yaan. With colourful visuals that has us glued to the screen Manush Nandan makes a clear impression. The stunts are not repulsive with any atrocious or logic defying gimmicks. But they are not interesting either.

Direction:

Looks like Ravi. K. Chandran set out to make a commercial film on a large canvas with an important issue as the backdrop. But the final product leaves a lot to be desired. The actual plot begins towards the intermission. The entire first half is devoted to scenes that showcase Jeeva wooing Tulasi. It follows a standard template with these scenes interspersed with songs and even an action sequence with a beggar mafia that has no relevance to the plot. The second half that deals with an issue as important as 'innocent victims of drug trade' has been treated in an underwhelming manner. The scenes are so ridiculous. You have an International terrorist who can hardly shoot to save his life. Worst still he disguises himself with a moustache. People keep changing the choice of their language according to their whims and fancies. Voice over being given in Tamil when an alien language is being spoken is understandable. But what is this with the scene where Jiiva exposes the villain by speaking in Tamil in front of a gathering of Arabs. And then when you have an International border with a board that you could find in your neighbourhood to signify a 'Kurukku Sandhu' you have literally had enough. Worst still the board reads out explicitly 'BORDER' in case you are caught unaware in the midst of all these high octane stunt sequences.

Bottomline:

Logic and Yaan are mutually exclusive terms. But that will not be a problem if the film is entertaining enough. Sadly it is not so, barring the pleasing visuals. Replace the second 'a' in the title 'Yaan' with a 'w'and that is what the film offers you.

Rating: 2/5

Rate Yaan