Aviyal – A better mix!!! 

Bharath Vijayakumar

The first thing that strikes you with Aviyal is that Stone Bench Creations have made a conscious decision that humour has got to be an important ingredient. All the short films that feature in this second installment of Bench Talkies have a lighter vein running throughout. The plots themselves are quite serious but not the treatment. 

The first film before the starting credits that runs as a monologue is superbly done with some brilliant lines. It never turns preachy and even if you did feel so, it employs a clever tactic at the end to make amends. 


Shruthi Bedham: 

This comedy from Mohith Mehra should be the crowd favourite. Quite a daring film with an incest angle, this one is packed with laughs. A hot, beautiful and friendly girl comes over to stay with our leading man/boy. She is a year elder to him. Now the biggest crisis is that she is his aunt. The lead actors are superb in this short. 


Kalam: 

This one is an action film where a criminal crosses the path of a budding filmmaker. It tries to play with a few twists and they do work. The action is quite well done.'There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics'. It is the same in filmdom is what this Kalam states. 


Kaneer Anjali: 

A mix of genres this a road film, a fantasy comedy and some action bits rolled into one. It works in parts and comes off as silly at times. The attempts at being quirky are not fully convincing. The leads are named Bra and Dosa and they are nuts. It is like the makers put in a checklist for being quirky. But the result is more an attempt than a convincing translation on screen. 


Eli: 

Alphonse Puthren's short is almost an abstract that scores with its narration. You are wondering for a moment if this one tries too much without a goal and then the climax puts everything in place. Alphonse's mainstream debut Neram was probably built on this short. The similarities are striking. Apart from the characters played by Bobby Simha and Nivin Pauly, the nature of the end to Bobby Simha and the importance of 'Time' keep reminding you of Neram. 


The subtitling of the films deserves special mention. It is not a mere word to word translation and is cleverly done such that the essence is maintained in English. 'Walter Vettrivel' becomes 'Robocop' and many more like this. 

Bottomline:

A year after the first Bench Talkies, this second installment proves that this is something that Stone Bench Creations has taken up seriously. Aviyal is a vast improvement and an exciting watch.