English translation: Demon
Director: Vetri Maaran
Screenplay: Mani Maaran and Vetri Maaran
(based on the novel by Poomani)
Cast: Dhanush, Manju Warrier
Music: G. V. Prakash Kumar
Time: 139 minutes
Bottom-line: Starts out well but fails
to have an impact
Vetri Maaran’s fourth collaboration
with Dhanush, Asuran, is a revenge
drama for which I had high hopes. The film stars Dhanush and Manju Warrier in
the lead roles, with Naren, Ken Karunas, Teejay Arunasalam, Pasupathy and
Prakash Raj in the supporting roles.
Sivasaami (Dhanush), his wife
Pachaiammal (Warrier), her brother Murugesan (Pasupathy), sons Chidambaram
(Karunas) and Velmurugan (Arunasalam) live in Thekkoor village. A rich landlord
from the Vadakkoor village, Narasimhan (Naren) wants to seize the lands of the
Thekkoor farmers to build a cement factory. This begins a series of actions –
involving public humiliation and brutal murders – taken by the families of
Sivasaami and Narasimhan against each other, to “save their honour”. Sivasaami
seems to be humble and peace-loving – and hence, decides to flee the village
with his family – while his sons want to take the aggressive route. Soon, they
get to know Sivasaami’s past – a tale revealing his true colours.
 |
| Dhanush as Sivasaami |
Asuran can be thought of as a village gangster
flick – it’s essentially a tale of two families pitted against each other. While
the premise seems exciting, by the time you finish watching, you realise that Asuran is the same story twice – once in
the flashback of Sivasaami and once again in the last 20 minutes of the film
(except that Dhanush has a bigger moustache and a beard in the climax). The
idea of the protagonist having a violent past followed by a “new life” is not
new in Tamil cinema either; different films have portrayed it in different ways
(like Baashha, Ramanaa, Ghajini
etc.).
 |
| Warrier as Pachaiammal |
The film does well in the technical
aspects, especially the background score. The cinematography is excellent too,
with good use of slow-motion. But be prepared to have a couple of
stomach-turning scenes of graphic gore and violence. Dhanush’s acting is
top-notch; he plays the saviour of the family who is willing to indulge in a bloodbath
to avenge his family, he plays the humble and pitiable family man who prefers
to be humiliated just to avoid violence. The way he maintains the balance
between keeping calm but still protecting his family from harm is admirable –
in terms of his character, Sivasaami, and his performance.
I don’t fancy the idea of one hero
battling a dozen thugs simultaneously but there’s plenty of that here. If all
it takes for the calm and composed Sivasaami to turn violent again is for the
Vadakkoor folks to attack his son (which is anyway expected), then the film
seems to give a message that violence is the answer to everything. However, the
climax overwrote that message, with Sivasaami’s parting words to his son having
a resounding effect.
Asuran is a pretty good entertainer, but
there are a number of contradicting factors which make the story go off track.
The portrayal of an ominous atmosphere is effective, and the rustic setting
automatically makes you associate raw emotions with the characters. Watch the
film for Dhanush’s performance, and take in the message given in the last
scene.
My Rating: 2.5/5
