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Saturday, October 17

Eeram - A mix of crime and the supernatural..


Movie - Eeram (Tamil)
Director - Arivazhagan
Producer - Shankar
Cast - Aadhi, Sindhu Menon, Nandhaa, Saranya Mohan, Srinath
Music - Thaman
Cinematography - Manoj Paramahamsa
Editing - Kishore TE
Writer - Arivazhagan
Release Date - 11th September 2009




We already had a great thriller/horror flick in Tamil earlier this year, called Yaavarum Nalam. Eeram is one more good addition to that genre. It is a well made film which is more of a thriller than a horror flick. In fact, it actually is a perfect mix of a crime thriller and a horror flick. Coming from the production house of director Shankar, S Pictures, which is known to make quality movies, this movie doesnt let down the reputation of the production house. 


The story is about a housewife, Ramya(Sindhu Menon) who is found dead in her apartment. She was found drowned in her own bathtub and the Asst. Commissioner Vasudevan(Aadhi) is given the charge to investigate the case. The twist in the tale is that Vasu was Ramya's ex-lover and they had broken up before she got married to Bala(Nandha). All the residents of the apartments believe that Ramya committed suicide because her husband found out that she was having an extra-marital affair with a young guy. But Vasu is not convinced with this, and starts investigating the case. To make matters worse, some of the residents of the apartments start dying one by one in mysterious circumstances which is shown to be the work of a supernatural power. How Vasu solves the complicated case and finds out what actually had happened forms the rest of the story.


The story is narrated interestingly by going back and forth from present to past and vice versa. The interesting fact is that this transition is done quite seamlessly and the movie moves at a great pace as well. The director has tried his best to ensure that all the incidents in the movie have a good logical backing as well. If that hadnt worked out, this film would have been really stupid. But since, the logic is strong, we are hooked on to the screen. There are no unnecessary deviations in the form of songs, comedy tracks, etc. The director is completely focussed on telling his story and he does a perfect job at that. He has managed to keep the movie gripping right till the end and is a great addition to the new generation directors in Tamil Cinema. 


Aadhi is extremely good-looking and he looks drastically different from his debut film Mirugam, where he played a ruffian. He plays Vasu the cop efficiently and we can see a bright future in store for this young actor. Sindhu Menon is the pivotal character in the movie. She looks very nice and delivers a neat performance. Saranya Mohan was decent in the very little screen time she got. Nandhaa is another good actor we can look forward to. His intense acting added much more value to the movie. Srinath was okay. The other members of the cast also did their parts well. 


Cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa is top-notch. He creates the dampness (which is also the meaning of the title of the movie) effect almost perfectly in his frames during the shots in the present sequences. The tones in the past sequences are much more lighter, but still that damp, or wet feel is there. It is perfectly in sync with the movie's feel and this works very well. Editing by Kishore is wonderful as the movie moves at breakneck speed till the climax. The climax could have been a little more shorter. Music is there for support, not as a commodity in the movie. There is just one full song and parts of another song. The song 'Mazhaiye' is melodious and has been picturised well. Background score was also apt for the movie. But the most impressive work is by the graphics people. They have done awesome work, especially in the sequences involving water. The first time you see water moving rapidly on the floor, you are shocked. It is done very well and looks completely realistic. 


The only negative I felt was that the reason behind all this wasnt that strong. Though the logic is strong, I felt that a better motif could have made all those incidents that happened, much more effective. This one wasnt bad, but could have been better.


All said and done, Eeram is an extremely well-made movie which deserves to be watched. Tamil Cinema is trying out more and more experiments and people are welcoming them as well. Special mention to Shankar who in spite of being busy with Enthiran, took time to produce this movie and also do his own bit of promotion by roping in Rajnikanth for the movie's audio release. Shankar has always been a commercial movie-maker, but when it comes to movies that he produces, he always make sure that they have some offbeat element in them. Be it Kaadhal, Veyil, Kalloori or even Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi, they all had offbeat themes, which would have seemed risky at that particular time. But Shankar is ready to take risks and succeeds most of the time too. This movie is another addition to some good movies produced by him. The director Arivazhagan, who makes his debut through this film, is a person to watch out for. 


Rating - 3.75/5




4 comments:

  1. 13 B was excellent..hopin dat eeram wud release here soon

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  2. I enjoyed Yaavarum Nalam a lot and I think Eaaram will be a good one to watch It is scheduled for overseas DVD release by Sruthilayam on October 30'th, hope it comes in before that.

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  3. this is a movie for the big screen... at least most horror movies are...

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  4. I hope it releases in a good theatre here in TVM and before 30'th....

    ReplyDelete