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Ayalaan - A kids friendly outing that doesn't completely alienate the adults! But wish it was more exciting!
Bharath Vijayakumar
In a recent pre-release interview for Ayalaan, the film's director R. Ravikumar spoke about how 'Tamil Cinema' is a genre by itself and how it encompasses elements for all kinds of viewers. Taking that into account, the question is does Ayalaan belong to the 'Tamil Cinema' genre or is it a children's film? But what Ravikumar meant was, that any movie, irrespective of the genre has to be moulded as a 'Tamil film', if it has to reach all the sections. So, for now, let us call Ayalaan as a kids friendly Tamil film.
Like Indru Netru Naalai, which was Ravikumar's debut film, Ayalaan is also a sci fi. But unlike Indru Netru Naalai, Ayalaan has very simple story. The former was low on CG and it was the screenplay which kept us invested. Here, a whole lot depends on CG and the screenplay as such is a pretty straightforward one. In a nutshell, Ayalaan is that typical film for kids, set around good vs evil. And as more often than not in such films, the good here is a noble and innocent young man (Sivakarthikeyan), along with his alien friend and the evil is a scientist/corporate villain (Sharad Kelkar) who is keen on plundering the natural resources for greed of money.
I really did not mind the first half of Ayalaan and in fact a lot of it is quite enjoyable. It is catering to the kids and also the kid in adults but for the adults, it is still a laidback and easy watch with the humour (though juvenile at times) bringing in the occasional chuckles. The equation between the alien and Sivakarthikeyan and the scenes set around them and Sivakarthikeyan's friends are what really work in this film. It is only when the proceedings get a bit serious in the second half, that the film feels a little 'boring', at least for adults. The alien is tied to a place, and we are left with Sivakarthikeyan doing the 'alien' things. The novelty of the superpowers wears out by now and humour too has mostly dried out. So, we are just waiting for the things to get done fast and for good to triumph evil. No major complaints but nothing that excites you as well.
The CG in Ayalaan is very nicely done. The structures and images are very simple, and they look and feel pretty real for the kind of film this is.
Bottomline
Ayalaan is a proper kids friendly film and one that is mostly all right as a laidback watch for adults. A little excitement in the second half is what the film lacks.
Rating: 2.75/5
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