#Ayalaan Review

#Ayalaan

2024 - Tamil

Starring : Sivakarthikeyan , Rakul Preet , Yogi Babu, Sharad Kelkar, Isha Koppikar and Karunakaran

Directed by R.Ravikumar

Plot : Tamizh , An Environmentalist moves to Chennai and bumps accross an Alien who comes to Earth on an Important Mission . Problem arises when a Deadly Businessman sets his eye on capturing the Alien. What was the Alien's Mission ? How is it related with the Businessman ? How does Tamizh and Alien together save the day forms the remaining crux of the story.

Performance wise Sivakarthikeyan has done a fantastic job. He has portrayed his role with utmost conviction and has done really well in majority of the scenes. There are still times where he hiccups during action scenes but that is passable. Rakul Preet gets a decent role and performs well. Karunakaran and Yogi Babu's One Liners work occasionally. Sharad Kelkar's Antagonist role is poorly sketched and could've been a much much better villain if written better. Isha Koppikar looks out of place in major sequence as a Femme Fatale. Siddharth who has voiced the alien kind of looked awkward at starting , but once it settles it, it just moves. Special Mention to Venkat Senguttuvan for doing the motion capture for the alien !

Technically the film is strong. The Film's main pillar is its Spellbounding VFX. The Hardwork the team did has paid off in a wonderful way. The VFX is world class. Though there are times where the Level of VFX dips , for the most of the time it is fantastic. Cinematography by Nirav Shah is great. Editing by Ruben is also good. Unfortunately A.R.Rahaman's Music and Background Score is a big letdown. Except for Vera Level Sago, the other two songs and montage songs were so forgettable.

The Film's writing is very basic yet very complex at the same time when comparing with a regular Kollywood film style. The Initial 20 mins are so slow , but once the Alien steps in and the main plot is slowly revealed the film becomes interesting and entertaining. Personally I thought they'll just have a very wafer thin plotline and just pass with the VFX , but clearly the Director has researched and crafted a complex yet convincing base plotline (that by itself even without the Help of Strong VFX looks good).

On the Downside , The Films momentum and tone shifts post the Interval . Post Interval, the film partially does a Genre Jump with a Surprise that actually feels random . While the Second Half tries to be innovative, the film feels like it meanders to reach the Final Act. It feels a bit over the top . Also the Climax feels a bit over stretched and over the top but its engaging not denying that. Also this minor issue i personally noticed is that , Editing is great but there a minor visible cuts which have been cut to reduce VFX costs and that continuity looks a bit off. A Bad Musical Album by ARR comes off as another Negative.

Writer Director R Ravikumar has aimed at something different for Kollywood with Ayalaan and he actually doesn't disappoint. This Type of Films in Mainstream Kollywood is definitely a clap worthy step. Though the film suffers from minor issues here and there, the engagement factor doesn't reduce and keeps the Target audience especially Families and Children glued to their seats.

Highlights :

1) Alien And it's Spaceship VFX

2) Lab Intro scenes

3)Pre Interval Fight and Interval Revelation

Overall : Ayalaan is a good Sci Fi film in Mainstream Kollywood with a Strong Story and Good performances. A Visual Extravaganza not to be missed in Big Screen which will definitely entertain Kids and Families during a Festival Season.

Rating : 3.25/5

Digital Rights : - 

Television Rights : Sun Network