Tamil Cinema has been having a fairly good run of late. Last year saw some really interesting movies like Subramaniyapuram, Anjathey, Poo etc which really bought back some glory to the industry. This year again has been no different and movies like Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, Pasanga, Naan Kadavul, Nadodigal etc have all been quite unlike the run of the mill stuff that we are usually subjected to. And now continuing the trend is Achamundu Achamundu (AA from hereon) – meaning ‘there is fear, there is fear’, directed by debutant Arun Vaidyanathan.
AA has been in the news for being the first Indian movie to be shot using Red One camera and after doing the festival rounds, it’s now released in India. For his first movie Arun has chosen to go with a powerful yet rarely approached subject. To begin with AA is the story of a typical South Indian family in the U.S. Life is picture perfect for Senthil (Prasanna). He has a good I.T job, a loving wife Malini (Sneha) and an adorable daughter Rithika (Akshaya). Having just relocated to a new residence they find that their basement needs to be painted. Thus steps in Robertson (John Shea) who comes over to do the painting job. Soon their peaceful life goes for a toss and things are never the same again. Arun Vaidyanthan makes a reasonably good debut as director with AA.
The very fact that Arun has decided to tackle the sensitive theme of child abuse and pedophilia in his debut movie makes one appreciate the intention behind the movie. Since the subject happens to be a very sensitive topic it needs to be literally handled with kid gloves and Arun manages to do it fairly well. The chemistry between Prasanna and Sneha is wonderful and they portray their characters quite well. Karthik Raja’s (we need to see more of him) music especially the BGM suits the movie. But there is no real distinction that the Red One camera is able to bring in as a highlight to the audience.
While the overall length of the film is not a concern (under 2 hours), the flow does get languid at times. Also contrary to expectations it does not come across as a taut thriller and it is only towards the end that the pace picks up a bit. The dialogues also seem to be quite weak at places. Also there are no standalone moments in the film which one can linger upon in particular.All said and done the theme is very important in today’s contemporary world and for having tackled it in a mature manner, AA is certainly recommended for those who love good cinema.
And yes for those looking for regular wholesome entertainment,this may not be what you are looking for.Sadly the odd show timings and the overall number of shows do not justify the kind of movie AA is. But in the days of movies like Masilamani, Ainthampadai etc AA will certainly be noted in the annals of cinema as a movie that stood for a specific cause and dared to be different.
Originally published in PFC.Check it out here-http://passionforcinema.com/achamundu-achamundu-%e2%80%93-where-fear-lurks/
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