Aranmanai Movie Review
Review Overview
Fun & Fear Moments
Performance & Narration
Songs & Technical Aspects
Horror & Fun-Filled Palace!
With its renowned star cast, Aranmanai stands tall in both fun & fear elements. The movie manages to hold the pulse of the audience right from the very first scene till the end (apart from the middling songs) though it has the same old plot we have seen over years. But still, Aranmanai offers a good, fun-filled thrilling ride.
Cast: Hansika Motwani, Vinay, Andrea, Lakshmi Rai, Sundar C, Santhanam, Kovai Sarala, Manobala, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Saravanan, Nithin Sathya, Chithra Lakshmanan, Kadhal Dhandapani, Swaminathan, Ganesh & Others
Cinematography: Senthil Kumar
Editing: Srikanth
Music: Baradwaj
PRO: Nikkil Murugan
Written & Directed by: Sundar C
Production: Vision I Medias
Distributed by: Sri Thenandal Films & Red Giant Movies
Release Date: 19-09-2014
Run Time: 02:36:00
Aranmanai is a good addition to a slew of horror-comedies like Chandramukhi, Muni, Kanchana and Yaamiruka Baayamae, but what makes Aranmanai stand out is the director’s choice of star cast and the way he is able to extract neat performances from them. Aranmanai is well built on a strong pillar of comedy sequences that dominate the narration.
Sundar C, who is well known for his comical spirit, hasn’t disappointed the audience and as usual as the director’s storytelling demands a huge cast & crew and the responsibility to provide screen-space for each has turned out to be a challenge. To script a plot on thriller subject, the directors are taking the easy way of pushing the screenplay with comedy with a good dose of gimmicky sound effects supported by CG. It assures them with a money-back guarantee and Sundar C is no exception here.
In such Aranmanai is no difference, the story starts in a palace that is for sale and the royal family is back to the palace after long years to renovate it sans any legal issues. Chitra lakshmanan takes the lead to the family followed by Manobala and Kovai Sarala and their son Nithin Sathya. Lakshmi Rai comes in as Chitra lakshmanan’s daughter and Vinay walks in along with his spouse Andrea as part of the family. They all come in for one common reason and are treated by the village people with respect and gratitude.
The director didn’t take much time to kick-start the proceedings, right from the start to the end the tempo has never been lost once (apart from the songs). Now the palace is crowded with a lot of characters and the story has to move on swiftly too. And a little girl plays a very important role to scare the audience with her looks and her conversation with hidden image leaves the audience to judge the remaining. Sundar.C as Andrea’s brother makes a good impact with his screen presence and almost played a Chandramukhi Rajinikanth type of character and justifies it with good effort. Sundar.C takes the challenge to save the people from the ghost in the palace and the search for the real haunted person leads the audience to the flashback which forms the base to the movie. Meanwhile the servants in the palace are being killed and that lights up investigations following with some hidden suspense and introduces Hansika to the show.
The mysterious spook that happen in the palace not letting anybody to settle down and Sundar.C takes it single handedly to find the reason ends the first half.
The second half is no difference and makes the audience travel through the traditional way of making horror films in Tamil cinema. What happens in the village and how Hansika gets lost all of a sudden, how the incident is inter-connected to the people in the palace and what Sundar.C does to solve the mystery forms the rest of the story. Hansika, with a solid performance, forms the fulcrum of this horror story. Coming to the cast and their performances, Andrea takes responsibility to frighten the viewers with her bizarre looks and eccentric manners. Lakshmi Rai jumps in her usual suit with glamour and takes part in the comedy portions to support Manobala, Kovai Sarala and Santhanam.
Aranmanai is well supported by Karthik Raja’s BGM though Bharadwaj’s songs are middling. The art director has attempted to weave reality by showing the palace grandly. The graphics team has put in exhaustive work but the movie fades away in an all -familiar plot but scores high with the star cast and their reliving performances without allowing the audience to frown. Overall, Aranmanai offers a good, fun-filled thrilling ride.