Anbarivu Review - A ‘not bad’ revisit to old school formula!

Bharath Vijayakumar

Debutant Aswin Raam’s Anbarivu is off to a solid start. These initial portions of the film that set up the conflict are nicely done. It is nothing you haven’t seen before but there is a hurry to the proceedings and Vidharth in a negative role definitely piques your interest. If you have seen the trailer, you pretty much know the plot and there are no surprises there. But the surprise is that Aswin Raam sort of gets his packaging right and delivers a watchable formula film. Keep in mind that I am talking about the film as a whole, as there are portions here and there that could easily put you off as well.

Hip Hop Aadhi in a dual role does a whole lot of things. As both Anbu and Arivu he is hyperactive. I am not sure if that is the word to be used for a performance but that is precisely what is happening in this film. He is constantly on the move. Maybe he wants this to be his signature style but it mostly comes across as a ploy to keep your attention away from acting limitations. It works at places and irritates at places. Not sure if the Canadian accent of Arivu was supposed to be taken seriously or played for laughs. But it only ends up annoying you. It is the supporting cast that really works in the film. Napoleon is really good and the others (Asha Sharath, Sai Kumar and Renuka) step in at times. After those initial scenes, Vidharth is sort of relegated to the background and is reduced to the usual villain.

Anbarivu is a movie that speaks against caste. I found the film’s progressive messaging to be a mixed bag. For a film that is speaking against caste, it carefully avoids the use of the word caste itself. The word used for a casteist mindset in the film is ‘Kolgai’, as in principle. Let us give the benefit of doubt for this. Sometimes sugar coating might actually do the job. Looking at the characters in the film, maybe this sugar coating is what would actually make someone like Muniyandi (Napoleon) realize his mistake. I couldn’t doubt the film’s intentions because as soon as Muniyandi reforms, he uses the words ‘Kanda Karumaanthiram’ to define his erstwhile casteist mindset. But the film doesn’t give the oppressed a fair representation or screen time to showcase their point of view. Maybe you can even excuse this. But why would you have the sole villain in the film from the oppressed community? The film’s opening registers the fact that Pasupathi (Vidharth) becomes the man he is because of caste discrimination. When you are giving Muniyandi a free pass for all his mistakes, doesn’t Pasupathi deserve at least a scene to redeem himself.

Bottomline

Anbarivu is a revisit to old school formula. To its credit, it remains watchable, thanks to a capable supporting cast, few emotional scenes and a climax that works!

Rating: 2.75/5