#Aghathiyaa Review

#Aghathiya

2025-Tamil

Starring : Jiiva , Arjun Sarja , Raashi Khanna ,Edward Sonenblick , Matylda ,Radharavi and Rohini

Directed by Pa.Vijay

Plot : After a failed film opportunity, struggling art director Agathiyan repurposes an abandoned bungalow in Pondicherry into a haunted house attraction. During his stay, he discovers old tapes belonging to Dr. Siddharthan, a Siddha doctor from the 1940s who lived there with French dictator Edward Duplex. As Agathiyan unravels the past, he learns that Siddharthan was close to discovering a cure for bone cancer through Siddha medicine, but the details remain lost. Determined to uncover the truth, Agathiyan digs deeper, only to realize the mansion holds dark secrets—what happened to Dr. Siddharthan, why the cure vanished, and why the bungalow is now haunted.

Performance wise , Jiiva as Aghathiyan is a cakewalk role for him. There's no much heroism or anything, yet Jiiva brilliantly carries the emotionally down character. But the Star of the film is Arjun Sarja as Dr.Siddharthan . He gets better role and screen time thaan Jiiva. Arjun being a seasoned actor carries this role in a subtle yet powerful manner. Raashi Khanna is as usual reduced to an mere eye candy role but thankfully the film doesn't have any forced glamour shots or scenes. Matylda as the Second Lead Heroine for Arjun does a decent job. While the amateurishness is visible in some scenes , it does not come out jarring. Edward Sonenblick as the Antagonist is portrayed in a very caricaturish and stereotypical. Though his acting was decent, the Tamil slang dubbing was unintentionally funny. Shah Ra and Redin Kingsley same as usual stereotypical loud sidekicks role. Radha Ravi decent role and same for Rohini too.

Technically, the film is Subpar. While there are no great visuals , Cinematographer Deepak captures the essence of 1940s in the Flashback sequences with limited resources greatly. It wasn't phenomenonal but good. Editing by San Lokesh was pretty good, especially in Transitions from Flashback to Present was uniquely done. Music By Yuvan was just passable. En Iniya Ponnilave remix was good but unnecessary for this film. Bgms especially in the climax was great where Yuvan remixed Beethoven's Symphony. The VFX was very very Subpar and even bad at some places. The Entire Climax fight which was taken in Animation is mainly targetted for kids . I could see the vision, but missed the execution as some of the fight sequences were directly ripped off from Dr.Strange & Multiverse of Madness and Infinity War climax Sequence. 

The film starts with the Introduction of Agathiyan and his Fiance Veena and how they decide to remodel a failed Cinema Set into an Haunted house. While the initial 20-30 mins are typical Commerical cinema stuff, it lacks the uniqueness to grasp the audience. Post that we are introduced to Dr. Siddharthan played by Arjun and his story begins. The way Past & Present were presented parallel were kind off interesting . The Pre Interval revelation partially worked but the Bad CGI in the Interval did kind off reduce the impact.

The film goes downhill from the Second Half where it tries to dump in so many things. While the Concept of an Siddha Doctor finding Medicine for Bone Cancer and linking it with Present Timeline Protagonist's need is good but the execution is so flawed. The film tries to be so many things at once , it tries to be an Emotional Film , a Film that talks about Pre Independence struggles faced by Indians, A film talking about Importance of Siddha Medicine, A Horror Film and a Fantasy Film but unfortunately only ticks 10% of all these boxes. The Second Half becomes tedious beyond a point and the Pre climax Twist also feels very convenient.

Talking about the Negatives of the film , the filmmaker needed more conviction and grapple over the content. The film wants to be everything at once and doesn't reach up to what it wants to be. Except for Arjun & Jiiva , none of the other characters are written in a proper manner and are just dropped in and dropped out conviently .Also the Entire Climax Stretch feels really awkward as it shifts from Animation from Live Action. It wasn't mixed also , it was outright animation that looked silly conclusion for a serious film. The Antagonist's characterization and motives were not clearly mentioned thus making him look like a weak antagonist. The Pre Climax Twist felt unnecessary and almost felt like an last minute thought and was just added for the shock value.

Writer Director PA. Vijay who's a veteran Lyricist has taken a very interesting plotline and tried to develop it as an Fantasy-Horror film that will work for Family Audience. While the Intention is commendable, the Script should've been even more focused and tighter. While there are some trademark Lyricist inspired Dialogues, majority of dialogues are very standard and basic level. Also the intention of spreading awareness about Siddha is great but beyond a point it becomes preachy. 

Overall: Aghathiyaa is definitely not a bad film but it cannot be termed as a good film either. The Intention is commendable but the making is flawed that is somewhat peddled forward by an Earnest Arjun and Jiiva. Maybe have no Expections and the film might work as a timepass film.

Rating: 2.25-2.5/5