7aum Arivu movie review

The Plot

The film is as expected about Bodhidharma and his amazing contribution to the world of medicine and martial arts, and how a genetic engineering student Subha Srinivasan tries to bring those powers back through the genetic memory concept. The Chinese don’t want this to happen and they send a very powerful martial arts hypnotist named Dong Lee to stop this and start Operation Red in India.

Operation Red is actually a bio-war (virus) and China wants India to beg them for the cure to the virus. The cure to this virus is the very same that Bodhidharma developed 1600 yrs back when he saved a Chinese village from the same virus attack. The Chinese know that if Bodhidharma is brought back, their plans will go bust.

Subha finds out that circus artist Aravind has a DNA line that is 80% similar to that of Bodhidharma. She pursues him solely for this purpose but Aravind falls in love with her and is snubbed by her. He feels defeated when he comes to know that he was just used by her.

But, later he comes to know of the purpose of her research and Dong Lee also starts wreaking havoc in India in his mission to kill Subha and Aravind. They join hands along with some more students and bravely proceed with the process with Aravind to bring Bodhidharma back. They do it very secretively but the inevitable villain moves start to happen, leading to the climax face-off between Dong Lee and Aravind aka Bodhidharma.

The film gets preachy in the end with a message about how Tamil culture is being forgotten and how science is the basis of life.

Hits

• Shruti Haasan has a great debut and she has maximum weightage. She pulls it off very convincingly. She looks smoking hot in the songs. Super prospect.
• The villain is menacing and he is a great addition to Indian cinema
• Nice directorial touches by A.R.Murugadoss in many places. One such instance is when he shows the virus spreading
• The hypnotism concept has been worked out in a terrific manner.
• Suriya shows off his chiseled body, funky styles and youthful demeanor. He is convincing as Bodhidharma with his serene eyes but, in the rest of the movie he is just the second fiddle to Shruti.

Comments

• The scene where Dong Lee wreaks havoc with the vehicles on the road is nicely worked out but poorly executed by the VFX team.
• Song placements are very average though they have been picturized beautifully. Oh Ringa, Yelelama, Yamma Yamma lead the pack. All the songs sound great too, though familiar.
• Harris Jeyaraj’s BGM doesn’t have one single notable theme. Very average score that is loud at places.

Misses

• The anticipation leading to the climax face-off between the hero and villain is great. But, the actual fight is just over the top commercial stuff. How Aravind suddenly gets Bodhidharma’s powers despite the DNA process being interrupted towards the end, is a mystery.

VERDICT

Great effort that could have been flawless if the climax fight had been worked out with more punch. Worth a watch for sure. 80% of the hype has been fulfilled.