Asal - Action Pot Pourri
He’s the ultimate star and he sure has lived up to the name. Ajith is the man of the moment and he totally deserves to be. After a long time, Director Saran has offered us a true action movie. Perhaps the last talked about action movie was Kamal Haasan’s starrer ‘Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu’ (VV) by Goutham Menon, though ‘Asal’ is completely different from ‘VV’.
‘Asal’, the latest and classy flick by Sivaji Productions is a feast for all you Ajith’s fans. This is the fourth movie by the Saran- Ajith- Bharadwaj trio, after Kadhal Mannan, Amarkkalam, and Attagasam. However, you won’t find a trace of those movies in this. Saran has totally reformed his creativity in ‘Asal’. Along with screen play writer Yuhi Sethu and few vital inputs from Ajith himself, Saran has made a platter of serious action story in this movie.
Yuhi Sethu’s writing skills and Saran’s movie making skills probably have taken inspiration from a few famous Hollywood flicks and this is a ‘little’ evident in the movie. The story narration can be correlated to many Hollywood gangster flicks that have come in the past.
Asal- the story is based in France, where most action has taken place. Talking about action, the car chase sequences in France designed by stunt master William Ong are sure to make you feel awe. Ajith’s doing a double role in this movie after ‘Attagasam’.
He plays the father and son. Ajith as the father, is serious, composed and has done this role with elegance. Though you won’t see him through out the movie, the senior Ajith’s character would be resonant in your mind.
Lets move to the gist of the story now. The movie’s all about Sons-Father relationship, Brother-Brother relationship and how evil forces enter to change their lives forever. Jeevanandham (Senior Ajith) is an arms manufacturer running the Eurasia Trading Company in Paris, and his consignments are mainly for defence purposes to countries and not to others. He has 3 sons. Shiva (the junior Ajith) and as his half brothers, the slowly growing actor Sampath and ‘Aahaa’ Rajeev portray their wicked roles to perfection. A baddie Shetty played by Kelly Dorjee, who’s a Don back in India has other plans. The other villain is Pradeep Rawat, who plays the role of the dreadful uncle to Jeevanandham’s sons. How the brothers are pulled into the Don’s web, how the uncle tries his evil pranks on them and how the junior Ajith saves wrap up this exciting flick.
Now, are we missing the ladies? Sameera Reddy after her brilliant performance in ‘Vaarnam Aayiram’ is playing the role of the Cultural Attache in the Indian Consulate in Paris. She’s doing a serious role as a diplomat, and it completely suits her. Dubbing for her by Chinmayi should definitely be commended. The other lady is Bhavana, who works for Prabhu back in India. Her innocent role keeps the audience in dilemma as to who ends up winning Ajith’s love.
Giving company as character artistes are producer Prabhu as a friend of the Senior Ajith, and yesteryear hero Suresh as a French Police officer makes a comeback. The other characters for you to look out for are Yuhi Sethu and his accomplices; their raunchy comedy makes the hall have a healthy laugh.
Ajith’s performance is admirable. He appears to be still under the hangover of ‘Billa’ yet he has quite gracefully differentiated his characters as the father and son. Talking about characterization, Ajith is loaded with absolute style and has carried away his costumes to flawlessness. His clothing in this movie is simply superb. Although the cigar in his mouth conveys a wrong message to the youth and his fans, it completes the chic look.
Fight masters Kanal Kannan, Thalapathi Dinesh and Patrick Bruneton have all done a brilliant job and have made Ajith appear superior. The fight sequences are amazing, and director Saran has not shown much of blood shed.
Saran’s hard work is obvious in the movie. But the length and the narration of the story could have been further sliced. In every other scene, dialogue writer Yuhi Sethu, has made fans of Ajith go ga-ga as Ajith’s label Thala has been reiterated plenty of times. The movie has fared well in most departments, but the music has been a cropper. Music director Bharadwaj could have done better work as his combination with Ajith and Saran in the past has been remarkably successful. But solace is offered from Prashanth D Misale, the cinematographer, who has shown us Paris so beautifully in the movie.
According to Asal’s tag line “The Power of Silence”, Ajith has limited dialogues but loaded with action and of course guns. The end product is a true offering for the die-hard Ajith fan. If you are not a die-hard fan of Ajith, after watching ‘Asal’, you’ll unquestionably become one.
Asal is Ajith's 49th film. Its of course a much awaited movie by the Ajith fans. This movie has brought back the old team Ajith and Saran. Also Ajith is the Assistant director of the film. He is also credited for the story, screenplay and dialogues along with Saran and Yuhi Sethu. So he has an extra responsibility for the good going of the film.
Asal is a story of riot between three brothers over a property. Two of the brothers (Sampath Kumar and Rajeev Krishna) are constantly fighting for the wealth and the property while the other brother keeps aside and tries to stop the family getting split. The feud existed there in the family right from the father's time and is still continuing even after the death of the father. Both the good son and father's role is played by Ajith. The wealth seems too much for the brothers to handle and they land in trouble. So Ajith comes for their rescue. The rest deals with the climax. For more see the movie Asal.
Sameera Reddy is playing the heroine, has no much scope of performance in the film but has enacted her role very well. Bhavana looks pretty in the movie. Ajith, as usual is looking glamorous and handsome in the film. Even Sampath, Rajeev and Pradeep has done their roles of villains very well. As far as the story is concerned there is nothing much extra ordinary in it and sometimes it pricks that the cast , especially Ajith is given a priority than the script. Yuhi Sethu tries hard to provide a few comic moments, succeeding partially on the rare occasion; his side kicks trying hard with a few gimmicks as well. Prabhu shows a dignified presence. The only thing to say that its the presence of Ajith in his stylish costumes and accessories that stop one from getting bored.
Technically speaking the shots in France is quite appreciable. The camera has done a wonderful job. The streets and other beautiful sceneries of France is beautifully impressed. Action scenes are not that pleasing and could have been made better. The music by Bharadwaj gives hardly any feelings.
All in all the movie Asal, produced by Sivaji Productions can be categorized as a stylish movie by Ajith. Altogether Ajith has impressed his fans but director Saran disappointed again. The movie is visually pleasing and one can enjoy his time seeing the movie. Don't think too much. Just watch the movie.
Cast : Ajith Kumar, Sameera Reddy, Bhavana, Sampath, Prabhu
Direction: Saran
Music: Bharadwaj
Production: Sivaji Productions
Decent effort by entire team
ASAL– A must watch for Ajith fans
Banner: Sivaji Productions
Production: Prabhu Ganeshan
Story-Screenplay-Dialogues: Saran, Ajith Kumar, Yughi Sethu
Direction: Saran
Star-casts: Ajith Kumar, Sameera Reddy, Bhavana, Prabhu, Sampath, Yughi Sethu, Rajeev Krishna, Kelly Dorjee and others.
Music: Bharadwaj
Cinematography: Prashanth
Editing: Anthony
Art: Prabhakar
Costumes: Nalini Sriram
Stunts: William Hong, Patrick Bruneton
Publicity: Diamond Babu
Rating: 3/5
Films based on feuds between brothers have been a hackneyed concept when it comes to Tamil cinema. In literal sense, there have been hundreds of films churned out on the same conceptualization. Of course, ASAL isn’t an elision as it revolves around the conflict between brothers in a powerful family that is narrated with ample commercial ingredients meant for Ajith fans.
Expectations were more with ASAL, since the film establishes new avatar of Ajith Kumar as a co-director and screenwriter. But, has he handled these criterions with perfection?
Of course, he has done justice over these arenas by gratifying to the tastes of his fans. But then, the screenplay turns out to be tedious on more parts with uninteresting moments. Saran has been wearing the same old-hat of penning stories based on betrayals and retaliations. His previous films with Ajith Kumar– ‘Amarkalam’ and ‘Attagasam’ are the best illustrations for it. On the dot, ASAL is a well-tailored piece of work catering the ardent buffs of Ajith Kumar while for regular moviegoers it proves to be a passable show.
Set in backdrops of Paris, the film centers on Jeevanandham (Ajith Kumar), a top-charting arms dealer and his sons Sam (Sampath), Vicky (Rajeev Krishna) while Shiva (again played by Ajith Kumar) happens to be the son of his second wife. When Sam and Vicky are impelled by his uncle (Ghajini fame Pradeep Rawat) to sign a business deal with a group that plies weapons for terrorists, Jeevanandham abides Shiva’s words about pooh-poohing the offer.
Nonetheless, as Jeevanandham passes away because of cardiac arrest, Vicky and Sam strike deal with the same group that their father never wanted. Here enters a deadly mafia Shetty (Kelly Dorjee), who abducts Vicky to Mumbai for causing havoc in contract he was supposed to sign with the same group.
Shiva and his close associate Sarah (Sameera Reddy), a member of French embassy flies down to Mumbai to rescue Vicky from Shetty with the help of his dad’s friend Mirasi (Prabhu). Shiva comes across Sulochana (Bhavana), an orphan raised by Mirasi who falls in love with him at first sight.
When Shiva becomes the savior for Vicky and Sam, he pleads his stepbrother to remain with him forever since it was their father’s last wish. But for a greater shock, Shiva is shot by them thereby drowning in the seas.
What had actually urged them to commit such a dishonoring act is revealed during second hour with an unexpected truth revealed about Shiva.
Situations become speculative for these brothers and evil uncle when they find out that Shiva is still alive. Ajith Kumar stuns us with his elegantly stylish looks and performance. But it would be better if he can focus on ‘romance’ factors as well. Right over his past 5-6 films, the actor hasn’t been trying his luck with comedy and romance quotients. His performance as both father and son is overpowering and keeps us engrossed throughout the show. Sameera Reddy as an official from French Embassy doesn’t get scope while Bhavana looks cute as a lovable fille. Rajeev Krishna and Sampath have done justice to their roles. In particular, Sampath excels with his body language and mannerisms. It looks like he has spent quality time on preparations. Suresh Balaji as a Tamil speaking cop in France is perfect while Pradeep Rawat sleepwalks through his characterization. Prabhu doesn’t get much prominence while Yughi Sethu provides relief with his comedy tracks. Kelly Dorjee steals the show with his mind-boggling show. To be precise, his complete portion in the first half happens to be highlighting attribute.
Bharadwaj has to seriously work on tuning better melodies. Except the title song and ‘Em Thandhai’, none of songs impresses us. Debutant Prashanth carries the entire film on his shoulders with his stunning cinematography and he’s sure to make it big in tinsel town. Antony’s editing is slick and decorous and art work by Prabhakar requires special mention.
Vivek Karunakaran, one of the leading designers of India has embellished Ajith with fantastic costumes while Bhavana and Sameera Reddy must thank their costume designer Nalini Sriram for having projected them so lavishly graceful with cool costumes. On the flip side, the screenplay turns to be wearisome during some moments, but kudos to Saran for presenting the film with a shorter duration of 120mins.
As mentioned earlier, ASAL is sure to be a promising movie for Ajith fans while others it’s an above average flick with technical excellence on all arenas.
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