"Arasaatshi"
"Arasaatshi" ... fast-paced film.
TEEMING WITH villains and bristling with action, CEE (I) TV Entertainment Ltd.'s "Arasaatshi," (A) is yet another tale of retribution and gore. But the lead player here is not interested in reprisal just for the calamity in his home. He takes it upon himself to cleanse society of selfish, callous, cantankerous lawyers, who go to any length to protect their clients.
Siddharth (Arjun), himself a lawyer, systematically kills erring advocates whose insidious approach to save sinners — underworld dons and philanderers — brings irrevocable suffering on the affected parties. He thus creates panic in the lawyer community. Not one is willing to take the risk of defending criminal acts anymore. But sentiment comes in Siddharth's way when his sister's husband (Raghuvaran) is to be his next victim.
The role is a cakewalk for Arjun. In fact the similarities it shares with ``Gentleman" cannot be missed. The film is fast paced and you can enjoy it though you've seen so much of this stuff before. That is if the hero, who is so keen to redress ills, had shown some intelligence. He doesn't bother too much about hiding his identity even when he's still at the scene of crime! The way he turns around to show his face to Nasser just after a murder is an example. Neither does he bother to refute the charge when Raghuvaran confronts him on an assumption.
Lara Dutta provides the female interest. The debutante is nothing to write home about. No great lip-reading skills are needed to notice the way Lara blissfully delivers the dialogue in English (even in the close-up shots) with the dubbing taking care of things! And dance is not her strong point.
If the film has taken quite a while to be completed it's understandable. For apart from the usual hiccoughs, projecting so many characters is a mammoth task in itself. From Anandraj and Charanraj to Rajan P. Dev and Devan a villain emerges on screen every other second. Despite the fact that the film has innumerable characters, there's no confusion in writer-director N. Maharajan's narration. Commendable work at the editing table (B. S. Vasu-Salim) adds to the clarity. Stunts, (Rocky Rajesh) especially the car chase, deserve to be complimented.
The similarities between Shankar's "Gentleman" and Maharajan's "Arasaatshi" are indeed many. The striking one, of course, is Arjun.
MALATHI RANGARAJAN
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