Airaa Review - Lacks the punch and engagement factor of a gripping horror!

PUBLISHED DATE : 28/Mar/2019

Airaa Review - Lacks the punch and engagement factor of a gripping horror!

Airaa Review - Lacks the punch and engagement factor of a gripping horror!

Akash


Lady Superstar Nayanthara's Airaa directed by KM Sarjun is another addition to the increasing number of horror films in Tamil Cinema. The film has Kalaiyarasan playing the other lead role along with Yogi Babu for the humour department. Has the film got the thrills and chills along with the grip intact? Read further to find out.

 

Airaa's opening credits depict the domino effect that suggests that we are in for a film that has a sequence of events influenced by another event and that forms for the story and crux. The entire film has a reddish grey tone and the mood has been set for a proper thrilling experience.

 

The film's first half has a lot of scope for horror elements that somehow fall short of a thrilling or gripping experience. The time that the director has taken to tell us what the film is going to majorly deal with is abundant and this could be an issue for those expecting a fast paced thriller. Also, these horror based moments do not work at all instances and the comedy is definitely on the low in spite of Yogi Babu's casting for humour. However, the visuals by Sudharshan Srinivasan and music by KS Sundaramurthy are a major positive and keep us interested in portions that seem a tad bit vague or draggy. In fact, the background score and re-recording are a big positive for the overall picture.

 

As for the performances, Nayanthara is definitely the show stealer. She has two roles to play namely Yamuna and Bhavani and both of them seem quite impressive. It is also good to see her shun her star image and take up a character like Bhavani that has a very different black and white tone throughout denoting the flashback and its feel. This black and white innovation is something new and the director deserves credit for this move. The characters such as Yamuna’s grandmother, Babloo are good with their performances and the predominant casting choices seem to be on point.

 

Airaa's second half has the chunk of the story and even the screenplay seems to move in a better direction in this half. The film here talks about a lot of issues that women used to face and also the plight of the girl child, apart from the horror base that has been the mainstay till that point. The first half does not really address these issues and this seems like a clear miss for the story writer and team. There are a lot of announcements made, such as events of death but we are given no reasons for any of them. An equal distribution of the core content would have made things a little more interesting.

 

Emotional sequences are a breeze for Nayanthara and she seems very comfortable crying naturally. However, the scenes and the justification that comes in towards the end for the ‘revenge factor’ could have been a bit more convincing. The edit by Karthik Jogesh is neat, though one might feel there could have been a slight trim to the overall length of the picture.

 

On the whole, Nayanthara’s Airaa seems to have a good intention as it tries to address a lot of relevant issues and talks about them in certain parts. But the majority of the film lacks the punch and the engagement factor that one would expect from a gripping horror based emotional flick. Nevertheless, it has a few moments on offer for those who enjoy Nayanthara’s performance and a tinge of horror elements. If for a more engaging first half and a slightly better justification for the revenge towards the end, the film would have been a lot more engrossing and intriguing.

 

Bottomline:


Nayanthara’s Airaa is a fairly genuine attempt that could have been more intense with its course of events and engagement!

 

Rating: 2.25/5


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