Starring: Santhanam, Ganja Karuppu, Jyothirmayi, Madhumitha, Rajesh, Ilavarasu, M.S. Baskhar, ‘Thalaivasal’ Vijay, Delhi Ganesh, Madan Bob, Kuyili
Direction: Simbhudevan
Music: Vidyasagar
Production: ‘S’ Pictures
Simbudevan’s Arai En 305il Kadavul, produced by director Shankar’s S pictures, is an attempt to explore the theory of existence of God through a comedy! The film seems inspired by the Hollywood comedy Bruce Almighty which starred Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman.
Unemployed Santhanam and Kanja Karuppu find themselves suddenly thrown out on the street in the middle of the night because the Mansion manager, M.S. Baskar, refused to be burdened by their rental arrears anymore. However, their friendly neighbors take pity on them and request Baskar to postpone their ousting till morning. Having been granted mercy for a night, the frustrated duo swears in distress, hurting the Almighty’s sentiments. God (Prakashraj, who else?) himself appears before them, but is subjected to their denial and mockery, questioning his authenticity. A few tricks and avatars (costume) later, the astonished friends are at His feet.
Prakashraj agrees to stay with them for a week and reveal his secret of running the world. He shows them his hi-tech galaxy box with which he communicates with his teammates (the folks in heaven, to be precise) and explains to them that whoever is in possession of such an asset will be bestowed with all the wealth in this world. Having been provided with sufficient inspiration and information, our young friends steal the Galaxy box from God, reducing him to a human being!
Left with no choice but to make His way in the world, Prakashraj (aka God), begins leading a normal human’s life, while the duo make merry with the help of the Galaxy box. Prakashraj, however, teaches the duo a few life-lessons about simplicity and virtue as he follows them around. Will God ever regain the Galaxy box? Will the duo find everlasting life and happiness after acquiring the Galaxy box? The answers, now, are in the hands of Fate – because now, ironically, even God is subjected to fate.Arai En, as anybody can gather, is a social satire that intends to preach a lesson or two without trying to be judgmental. The lesson is mostly about God’s existence, and what His ideal contribution to current society ought to be. Although funny in parts, the movie is unable to sustain its flow with a script so serious that it forgets to amuse and entertain. For the same reason, the dialogues between Prakashraj and Rajesh on the topic of God’s existence seem like they jumped straight out of some debate show on television.
Prakashraj’s role as God does not emerge as meaty as it sounds and is anything but challenging for the actor. Having said that, it is also difficult to imagine another actor in his shoes and the choice couldn’t have been better. Santhanam deserves a
special mention for largely underplaying his character without going overboard with the customary earsplitting dialogues he is usually identified with. Kanja Karuppu isn’t too bad either.
Rest of the cast worth a mention include Thalaivaasal Vijay, Madanbop, V S Raghavan Rajesh, M S Baskar, VMC Hanifa, Madhumitha, Jyothirmayi and Kuyili. Baskar, Manobala, and Hanifa lighten up the somewhat dreary screenplay with a few laughs. Kanja Karuppu’s police station comedy also provides a little respite from the ‘God or No God’ preaching.
Vidyasagar’s Aavaaram Poovukkum sung by Shreya Ghosal is the catch of the album and the duet number Thendralukkuu Nee is also worth paying attention to. It is evident that the editor found it difficult to trim the canned scenes, and so can’t be blamed for the length or the sluggish pace of the movie.
Simbudevan seems to have begun making an attempt to classify the movie - either into a children’s movie or a full-length all-class comedy entertainer- and then given up in the end, leaving his comedy with an identity crisis.
Get ready for some preaching!.
